Where The Wild Things Are
by anythingzombie
Summary: AU/OOC: Edward is a sixteen year old with deep affections for the new girl. But there’s something odd about Bella…something different, and Edward seems determined to find out her secret. But will the moon ever reveal her true identity? M for Dark Themes.
1. Where The New Kids Arrive

_"Inside all of us is hope. Inside all of us is fear. Inside all of us is adventure. Inside all of is ... a wild thing."_

**Where The New Kids Arrive**

There was something odd about the new kids.

Maybe it was their dark, intimidating appearance, or how they walked in groups. Maybe it was their obvious care freeways.

Whatever it was, people were afraid.

There were eight of them; six large, dark males and two females. Both of the girls were beautiful; sexy even. But the pale skinned female was the obvious outcast. She kept her head down, her face shielded by her brown hair as her arms wrapped around herself. She would often catch the eyes of the students and when she did, something inexplicable would happen.

It was almost like she was breathing in their scents. She would inhale and her eyes would roll, like she was enjoying it. One of the males would place a protective arm around her, whispering something in her ear and she'd immediately calm.

Who were they?

I had heard rumors that new students were coming, but I was expecting kids much like ourselves. _Normal. _These students were not from around here, and they stuck out like a sore thumb. And yet, I found myself intrigued by their presence. Intrigued by their style, their attitude… even their lack of care.

They took a seat at one of the far tables in the cafeteria, isolating themselves. They all had a tray of food sat in front of them, food piled high as they began to eat like starved animals.

All but her.

She only stared at her food, grimacing from time to time as she shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Her mahogany hair fell in front of her face and she used her thin hands to tuck the loose strands behind her ears. As her hands glided down from her head, she gripped her jacket and pulled it closer to herself.

The boy next to her looked down at her unsure presence, pushing her tray closer to her. She spared him one dark, anguished glance before sighing and reaching for an apple, hesitant of the red fruit. She looked up briefly from the table and her eyes locked on mine. They were a glorious brown; deep, haunting and seemed to hold almost too much knowledge. Too much _pain. _

Her mouth twitched, slowly moving into a light grin and I felt my own lips follow the same motion. A light shade of pink touched her cheeks, her eyes moving from mine and back down to her food. She brought the apple to her luscious, red lips. Her mouth opened, and she sunk her white teeth into the fruit.

How I wished to be that fruit; to have her lips on me, to feast upon me.

I wanted her hands to caress my skin, to touch every part of me. I wanted to cover her with sweet kisses and memorize her with my fingertips. I wanted her; every part of her.

As if reading my thoughts, she looked up towards me again, blushing as my smile grew bigger. Perhaps she was interested in me as well. I raised my palm up from the table, my fingers giving a little wave. Her cheeks flamed and her eyes flashed back down to the tray of food in front of her.

Her lips were caught in her teeth, as if she was trying to stop herself from smiling. She must have laughed because the large boy beside her glanced once towards her face before glaring at me. His dark eyes tightened, his jaw locked and just at that one look, I felt myself starting to panic. His large hands turned into fists and his body shook.

She then put a hand on his arm, her lips vibrating as his eyes clamped shut, words continuing to fall from her lips. The others at his table noticed this and a few turned to look at me, glaring, before finally turning away - not caring enough to continue staring at me.

My eyes travelled back to the boy and girl. He was eating again, carelessly shoving the artificial school food into his mouth. She was staring out the window, a longing look on her face.

How I wished to take her outside, to dance in the rain with her, to kiss her in my meadow. I didn't even know her name and already I wanted to do things with her that I never thought were possible.

I had never been attracted to many of the girls here, and yet I found myself being almost pulled to her. Like gravity.

"Are you a cat?"a rough voice beside me asked. I wasn't sure if I had gone insane or not. Looking at so much beauty obviously couldn't be good for a person. I felt my eyebrows scrunch up, aware of the bodies around me as my head snapped to the person who had spoken.

"What?" I questioned Emmett as he stole my stale chocolate chip cookie. He brought it to his mouth, and easily stuck the whole thing in.

"I asked, are you cat?" he said once more, his voice muffled from the cookie.

"A cat? Why would I be a cat?" I frowned, trying hard to decipher the meaning behind his words, his thought process, and his ADHD.

"You were staring for like, five minutes without blinking. Only cats do that," Emmett pointed out, stealing someone else's cookies.

"That's not true. Lots of marine animals don't blink at all. Unlike the Shark, who when closing his mouth on his prey will close its eyes in order to keep them protected from his dying meal," Alice said whilst flipping through a magazine. Emmett stared at her like she'd just pulled a sword out of a stone.

"How do you know this _niner_?" Emmett asked and she shrugged, proceeding to look interested in the world of gossip. I turned my gaze back to_ her_. She was eating her food, simply unaware of anyone or anything.

"Edward, did you hear me?" a voice said, and I turned my eyes from the brown haired girl to the body that had spoken.

"What?"

"I said, can you give me a ride to hospital after school? I need to see dad," Alice repeated whilst putting her things away. I glanced at my watch; the bell was going to ring any second now.

"Sure." I picked up my bag as the loud ringing noise echoed in the cafeteria. Emmett and Alice soon left the table after. I stood up, following them as I looked over at her table one last time.

They were already gone.

--

I stopped dead in my tracks as I walked over the threshold to Biology. She was standing at the front of the class, speaking shyly to Mr. Banner. A smile crept over my face as I realized she'd have to sit beside me. I was the only person in the class who had a table to themselves, and I'd gratefully share it with her.

I tightened my hold on my back pack as I walked past her, making sure I somehow made myself noticed. But as I walked past her, brushing my arm casually against hers, she stiffened and pushed herself closer to the desk, I winced.

I didn't mean to make her uncomfortable. I was just trying to make her more aware of me, and that certainly wasn't the reaction I wanted. I sat at the empty desk, pulling my chair closer to the window to give her more room. When the bell rang, Mr. Banner walked to the front of his desk and stood beside her.

"Class – this is our new student, Isabella Swan. She was a past student at La Push but since the school is closing, she's now here with a few students from her school." _Isabella _blushed fiercely, keeping her head down.

La Push.

That would explain all the native students, but it wouldn't explain her.

Mr. Banner then instructed her to take a seat at my table, and I pulled my books over, watching as she glided to her seat timidly. I sneaked in a glance, hoping to catch the expression on her face but her attention seemed fixated on the teacher.

Then the phone rang from the front of the classroom, and after Mr. Banner had spoken into it for less than a minute, he turned to us.

"I want you all to turn to chapter eight. Read it. Answer the questions, and then do the vocabulary. I'll be back soon, so no funny business." He gave us all a warning glance before disappearing out of the room.

The noise in the room increased as people casually began to work and talk at the same time. I flipped my text book open, only to notice that Isabella didn't have one. I bit down on my lip uncertainly, before slowly nudging mine to the middle of us.

"Want to share?" I asked quietly, as her gaze flickered up to mine, the breath catching in the back of my throat at her deep brown eyes.

"Sure," she replied softly, pulling her chair closer to the middle as I felt my palms dampen. Her eyes returned back to the book, moving easily back and forth, as if she wasn't even reading them at all. Before I knew it, she was waiting for me so she could turn the page. I quickly skimmed through the book, trying to pick up the details that I would surely miss. I nodded my head and she flipped the page.

"Isabella, that's a pretty name," I wasn't going to speak, but I couldn't stand the silence. The only thing I had on my mind was her. I needed to know more about her… I wanted to know everything.

"Bella," she said suddenly, her voice determined. "I prefer Bella."

I nodded my head. "That's understandable."

"What's your name?" she questioned.

"Edward."

"I like that name."

I smiled back at her before turning my attention to the book just as she did. Something about this felt right. It was natural, normal you could say, as if we'd been together all our lives. But it wasn't enough feeling this. There were things I wanted to know.

"Why did your school close down?" I asked her, and without looking up she answered.

"There wasn't enough funding down on the reservation. It's harder getting money with the elders still around, and most of them are in retirement. A lot of the people there had to move, because it's hard owning land when you can't pay for it." She looked at me every now and again, her brown doe eyes getting locked in mine.

"What about you? Can you afford to live there?" I didn't want to pry. But I couldn't stop myself, and clearly she didn't mind.

"I live with my father. I moved from Phoenix to here about five months ago, and at first I wanted to go to school here but Charlie insisted I'd be much more comfortable with familiar faces, so I enrolled at the high school in La Push." She pulled a face, making her aversion to the high school apparent.

"Charlie Swan? As in Chief Swan? He's been here his whole life. I thought you said you just moved here?"

"Yeah," she nodded slowly. "I've been living with my mom since I was a baby."

"What happened?"

"She died," Bella said bluntly, and I felt myself drop the pen in my hands. I wasn't expecting that.

"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I shouldn't have been so nosey. It's not my business."

She surprised me by laughing softly. "It's alright. I knew it was going to happen. She had cancer, so I've had a while to get accustomed to the fact that she wasn't going to be around forever." She smiled back at me, and I let out a breath of relief. I really hadn't meant to pry so deep. She was just so unique and different.

Mr. Banner returned, silencing the room and causing everyone to hurry to write down the information needed.

"Newton – would you help me pass out the things for the flower dissection?" Mike Newton bounced out of his seat and trekked to the teacher like the pet he was. He grabbed the clear box of scalpels, walking to the tables as he passed them out to everyone. When he came to our table, he took one look at Bella and I knew that I was going to have to beat him up.

He looked at her with wide, probing eyes, his gaze intense and penetrating. He was looking at her like some freak in a circus.

I cleared my throat and his gaze flickered to mine, noticing the hard set of my jaw as he quickly stuck his hand in the box of scalpels.

"OUCH!" he yelled, pulling his hand back out. In his haste to get away from our table, he'd cut his fingers.

I didn't have time to feel smug because my attention was immediately caught again by Bella. She stiffened beside me, her teeth gritting together as she clamped her eyes shut, her hands gripping onto the table.

Mike just stood there in front of her, blood dripping onto the desk and her notebook as Mr. Banner walked over in a rush.

"You better head to the nurse."

Bella's eyes finally opened and they locked on Newton's bloody hand. It wasn't a look of shock or revulsion at seeing his hand in this state. No, it was a darker look. One full of hunger and anger and pain. A noise vibrated in her chest, almost a growl or purr.

"Bella?" I whispered as her eyes quickly rolled to me. The look was much worse than what I had seen. It was full of hatred and anguish. It was as if she was in the deepest parts of hell, being tortured in every inhumane way possible. But there was still the glint of hunger in her eyes that threw me off.

In a sick way, it was as if she wanted it.

Another growl came from her, a red ring forming around her chocolate circles. Fear started to rise in the pit of my stomach.

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head before locking on Mike as he slowly turned away from her. She quickly stood up, her arms pressed against the table, her legs tightening.

She growled one final time, her body shuddering as her lips curled over her teeth.

Why did I have the feeling that someone was going to die?

**

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**A/N -**Thanks to the awesome Oxygen. and .Cucumber for making this chapter much better than it was. I would like to say now that I do not own rights to the title. And of course the Twilight characters aren't mine, but the ones who have a case of OOC are.

Right now things aren't to clear, but that will all change in the future chapters. I hope everyone will stick with me as this story unfolds.

If you like it, let me know.

(January, 20th – 2010: I've gone through and edited this story.)


	2. Where The Animals Attack

**Where The Animals Attack**

Bella stood up immediately, her chair screeching against the linoleum floor. It came crashing down with a loud thud, causing everyone to turn around and look at her.

She didn't care about being the center of attention. The only thing she seemed to care about was the red liquid seeping from the cut on Newton's hand.

"Bella?" I asked tentatively, standing cautiously beside her. She calmed slightly at my presence, and I begun to think that the moment had passed, but it wasn't long before she started to shake again. Another deep growl erupted from the depth of her chest, and in one fast movement, she grabbed her things and sprinted out of the room.

She paused at the exit, looking back at me as guilt flashed in her dark eyes, before the door closed behind her.

"What was that about?" Mike breathed, my attention snapping back to him. "I swear… it was like she was about to eat me."

"No one would want to eat _you _Newton," I stated, chuckling quietly to myself as he glared at me.

"Let's get you to the nurse before you die from blood loss," Mr. Banner spoke, grabbing Mike's wrist and leading him out the room.

The laughter died quickly as soon as he was out of the room, and I took my seat wordlessly, my mind now filled with Bella again.

What had just happened?

Her behavior was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. It was almost inhuman.

I laughed to myself, _Bella was anything but human._

I knew there was something odd about Isabella Swan, something _different_, and I was going to find out, no matter what.

--

"Why do you need to see dad?" I asked Alice as the Forks Hospital rolled into view.

"I need to ask him something about me…and Jasper." I nearly stomped on the breaks and crashed into the car in front of us just at the sound of his name.

"You and Jasper?" I asked, shocked. "But he's my best friend! Why don't I know about this!?"

Alice rolled her eyes, flipping through the radio again but I slapped her hand and she recoiled.

"Jeeze – chill out! You know how long I've liked him, and it was just a matter of time before he felt something towards me too." She unbuckled her seat belt and walked out of the car before I could question her further. I sighed, throwing the car door open as I followed her into the hospital.

"But… why haven't you two told me?" I asked again once I'd caught up with her. I felt left out that I hadn't been informed until now. Jasper always told me everything.

"Look Edward," she turned and looked back at me. "It's just that what I have with Jasper is real. I didn't want either of us to tell you because I didn't want you to try and put an end to our relationship before it had even begun. I'm in love Edward, and I don't need you to tell me that I'm too young to understand, or to even know what it is."

She turned back around and headed into the hospital, leaving me standing in front of the doors, my face frozen in shock.

Did she honestly believe that I would have tried to stop her?

I sighed and stepped into the hospital, the same odd sense of comfort washing over me. Possibly because my father had been a doctor all my life and always smelt like his work.

The sound of an ambulance touched my ears and I looked back to see the vehicle pull up at the emergency entrance.

I returned my attention to where I was walking, working my way past the familiar workers to get to my father's office. Alice was already inside, waiting on his leather couch.

"Working?" I asked as she sighed and nodded her head. I slowly took a seat beside her, an uncomfortable silence filling between us.

After what felt like forever, our father walked into his office out of breath.

"What happened?"

"Animal attack," he let out a deep breath of air and folded into his chair, leaning his head back. "Pretty nasty too."

That's when I knew that his patient didn't make it.

Whenever Carlisle lost someone in his line of work, he'd do the same thing. He'd slump in his office chair, looking tired and defeated as he hung his head backwards. It was something that no child should ever see their father look like, but Alice and I had seen it plenty of times.

Death was welcomed in our home. Instead of fearing it or shying away from it like most, we were comfortable with it. Esme, our mother, had insisted that Carlisle quit. But no matter what he'd been through, we encouraged him to stay. Forks needed him, and he loved his work.

I slid off the couch and walked to him, kneeling down beside him as he slowly turned and looked at me. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"I'm sorry, dad," I whispered.

"It's alright. I can't save them all." He spoke as I nodded my head and looked back at Alice. She sighed and walked over to us, draping her arms around our father as she kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm sorry, daddy."

He nodded his head and squeezed her tiny, pale hands. "You kids better head home. I bet you've got homework and stuff."

We parted with a few more words before standing, and heading for the exit.

"Poor dad," Alice murmured as soon as we'd left the office, and I sighed, wrapping my arms around her small shoulders.

"He'll be fine. He always is."

She leaned against me and together we walked slowly to the doors, at least until we saw Angela Weber. Angela was one of Alice's best friend's, her face was stained a shade of red and her hands were wrapped tightly around her.

Alice removed herself from my hold and rushed to her friend. "Ang. What's wrong?"

The dark, blonde haired girl turned to my sister in surprise, her swollen eyes widening. Her gaze moved to me then back to Alice. She looked confused, as if she wasn't sure where she was.

"What happened?" Alice asked softly as Angela opened her mouth to speak, but the only thing that came out was a strangled cry.

"Ben…" she whispered brokenly, "H-He _died_." She crumpled forwards into Alice's small frame, her hands gripping the edge of her t-shirt as Alice's gaze flashed towards mine, pleading for help.

I wrapped an arm under her shoulder, pulling her onto the spare seats at the side of the hallway as Alice wrapped her arms tightly around her waist.

"How?" I asked as she buried her head into Alice's shoulder, her body shaking with sobs. Alice sent me a glare over the top of Angela's head, warning me with her eyes.

"We went on a-a hike," she whispered through her tears. "And he decided to run off the trail and into the woods. I would have gone after him. I really would have but I didn't w-want to get lost."

Angela and Ben were an ideal couple for everyone in Forks High School. They had been together for so long, never fighting, and never worrying about the other cheating.

We all wanted that. But now it was gone.

"I remember calling out to him, searching for him from the trail. I remember seeing something run past me." She paused, drawing a deep breath. "It was large, and dark. I began panicking, and I started calling out his name." She looked up at me with wide, horror-stricken eyes. "Then there was this _growl_, like a bear or a wolf. H-his screams… were the last thing I heard before I called 911."

I couldn't even imagine the pain she was going through, and as her fingers gripped Alice's shirt tighter, the tears falling faster off her face. I placed her hand on her back, rubbing it gently.

A loud bang made me jump. I turned to see a group of people pushing a hospital bed out of a room. On the bed was a body covered in a white sheet with red stains.

_Ben_.

Why did this whole thing feel so suspicious? Animal attacks were very common this time of the year, but why did this feel…_wrong_?

The group of people pushed the bed past us on their way to the mortuary, and there was only one thought that flashed through my mind.

_I have to get down there._

It was almost impossible to do it without getting caught, so I'd have to be cautious, and sneaky.

I pulled away from Alice and Angela, leaving them with a sad, comforting smile as I made my way down to the basement. I took the steps one at a time, constantly looking back at the door I had come through.

When I made it to the bottom, I slipped out the door and down the hall to the mortuary. Listening for others, I heard male voices further down the hall and I quickly hid in a storage room. Their footsteps and voices carried past me, and I took that time to rush to Ben.

I stalled at the door, listening for anything.

There wasn't a sound.

I slipped into the room, my eyes raking over the surroundings. Everything looked so fragile.

There was what looked like a large filing cabinet installed into the wall and I could only imagine how many bodies were in there. I saw a white and red sheet from the corner of my eye and I quickly walked towards it.

I bit my lip, thinking about the morals of whether or not I should do this. If I were mauled by an animal, I wouldn't want my friends sneaking a look. But this was more than me wanting to poke a dead body with a stick. This was me going between enemy lines, me being Tom Hanks and discovering Da Vinci's secrets.

It was a puzzle that needed to be solved.

With a shaky hand, I reached out towards the ruined sheet, feeling his cold body underneath my grasp as I tugged the sheet down to his knees. I took one look at him before whirring around on my feet, turning away from him as I controlled my gag reflex.

I took a glance over my shoulder, clamping my mouth shut and holding my breath.

I had never seen anything more shocking, or appalling in my life.

The first thing you noticed was his face. The skin on his forehead and left cheek was gone, replaced by muscle tissue and red bone. The skin that was there was spotted with red and scratches. His neck had a large bit mark, but I couldn't tell what type of animal it was. His right shoulder had been cut, with large cuts that were still leaking with old blood.

But his other arm was gone. _Completely._ It must have been torn directly from his shoulder. His chest had very deep cuts, so deep that you could see the inside of his chest. White bone from his ribcage stuck out of the tears and his heart was obviously not beating.

My eyes travelled down to his stomach, a single tear falling from my eyes – no one should have had this much pain inflicted on them. His intestines were out, skin gone. His torso organs were out and completely disturbing. I shut my eyes and shook my head, this didn't seem possible.

His dead body came with a smell. It was revolting and had a dry hinge to it. As if he'd been out in the heat, sun bathing in the desert.

But it had a strange animal hint to it; like he'd been covered with strays. It was terrible.

I had to get out of here, and I hoped with all my heart that Angela hadn't seen this. No one should.

I quickly fled the mortuary, making my way back to Alice. She was waiting for me beside the exit doors, and even from a distance I could see the tear marks down her cheeks.

"Are you ready to go home?" I asked her quietly and as she stood up, she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist.

"Yes," she breathed, letting her arms fall to her side. "Carlisle doesn't need any more shock."

I nodded my head in agreement, my eyes tightening as I realized the pain she was concealing.

"So, what do you think of the new kids?" Alice questioned as soon as we were seated in my Volvo.

What _did _I think about the new kids?

There was only one new kid I was thinking about, and her name just happened to be _Bella. _

All of a sudden, Ben's tormented body flashed through my mind, as did Bella's actions in Biology. The boy who sat by Bella glared at me protectively, her fearful eyes matched my own terrified ones.

My hands gripped the steering wheel, my jaw clenching as the single sound of Bella growling erupted in my head.

"Edward… are you alright?" Alice asked. I snapped out of my reverie.

"Perfect," I lied.

**

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A/N

- Sorry for the slow update. Things happen.

Thanks to everyone who faved/reviewed/alerted. It means a lot to me.

Big, huge thanks to the beta, the cookie monster, the one and only, Oxygen. and .Cucumber :) She is too cool for all of you, bow down and serve her cookies.


	3. Where The Rebellions Escape

**Where The Rebellions Escape**

I had never been more excited to go to school. In third grade we were going on a field trip to a farm, that had me pretty thrilled; but nothing could beat this day. I knew it wouldn't be that great of a day, especially since the news about Ben's brutal death was released, but _she_ would be there. At least, I hope she was going to be there.

My fingers drummed against the steering wheel as I drove to Forks High school. Alice sat beside me, attempting to put make up on using the visor mirror. I had asked her why she hadn't done it before we left; she rolled her eyes and told me she'd have to wake up earlier.

"So?" I retorted to her, she sighed and her jaw locked.

"I need sleep."

Her voice was layered in so much venom that I let it be, if she wanted to do her _precious _make-up in the car, in the cold, then that was her choice. That was another thing I liked about Bella. She wore no make-up, and she really didn't need to. She was beyond beautiful. Her brown eyes were large and deep, mysterious and taunting.

I could picture them now.

I pulled into the school parking lot, besides Rosalie's convertible where she and her brother were getting out of. Alice squealed as she caught sight of Jasper the Backstabber. He waved at us, only to receive a wave from Alice and a glare from me. I was angry at him for not telling me about Alice. After all, she is my baby sister and he is my best friend. We were all friends, I was the only one left out.

I even called Emmett. He told me him and Rosalie knew about it for a while, they had kept it quiet from me as well. I was pissed. Why couldn't anyone trust me? It's not like I was going to kill him...yet. I had it in my mind that I should beat him up or something - isn't that what big brothers do? I should threaten him and tell him not to lay his grimy hands on my sister. But he's my best friend; I couldn't say that to him. Instead, I climbed out of the car and walked over to them.

"Sup?" he asked me as he pulled his bag out of the car.

"Not much," I replied back, sticking my hands in my pockets and tried to act natural. It didn't work. He scrutinized me, then at Alice before realizing what was going on.

"You found out?" he asked in a worried tone.

I felt a tang of anger touch my tongue. "Not from you." He averted his blue eyes from me and glanced at his feet. Alice nudged me in the back. I watched her walk past me with a glare and stand beside Rosalie.

"Let's get to class," she spoke to Rose. The blonde haired girl nodded her head and followed the pixie-like girl to the school building. I turned to Jasper who was starring at his feet in an awkward and uncomfortable silence, but the quiet was soon filled with the sound of a rumbling noise. We snapped our head's to the direction of the noise. Coming in the entrance of the parking lot was a motorcycle. Two people got off as it came to halt in a parking spot.

One of the figures took of their helmets, reveling a new kid. He was the one who sat next to Bella, the one who seemed to comfort her when she seemed like she would surely lose it.

The next body removed the helmet, it was Bella. Her brown hair freely fell out of the helmet and landed in a messy form on her head, she ran a hand through it, shaking it as it tried to become normal. She smiled at the large boy, handing the helmet to him. He turned from her and began for the school, she started to follow him like a sheep but let her eyes wandered the school lot.

They landed on me. I smiled and waved at her. She bit her lip as she smiled, blushed then turned her direction back to the school. I felt my smile grow. Other vehicles came into the lot; most of them were old and battered up. Each seat held one of the new kids. None of them cared about the stares from the students. They parked and ventured into the school.

"We've got a _new _new kid," Jasper stated. I turned to look at him, my eyebrows scrunched. He nodded in a direction with his chin, my eyes glazed over the parking lot until they reached a new figure. He was smaller than all of them, gangly and timid. He had his arms wrapped around his torso and folded into himself. The other female walked back to him and placed her hand on his back, she lead him to the school.

"Weird," I replied, turning back to Jasper.

"Must not have decided to come yesterday," Jasper spoke quietly, probably to himself. The bell rang.

"Time for class," I muttered. Jasper chuckled and headed for the school. I watched him retreat to his class.

--

"This feels kinda wrong," Rose spoke as me as she climbed into her convertible. I turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, Ben only died yesterday and were going off to eat snow cones. It's kinda fucked up don't ya think?" she asked. Rosalie looked guilty and hurt, I sighed.

"I know he was our friend, but it's not like we're at his funeral. Look Rosalie. Snow Shack is closing for the season. Do you want the best and greatest snow cone or do you want to eat pudding from the school?" She stared at me, her eyes flickering at me and at the school.

She groaned. "I want the the best and greatest snow cone."

"That's the spirit! Now let's go before we get caught," I said. She nodded her head and pulled out of her parking spot. I knew that if Rosalie got caught again for ditching school she'd get her car taken away, but it was almost lunch time. Eleventh and twelfth graders had permission to leave the school during lunch. We also wanted to get a snow cone before the rest of the Juniors and Seniors got there.

But I was giving up something by getting a delicious snow cone. _Bella_. I wouldn't see her until Biology, but I think it would be worth it. In the cafeteria I can only see her from a distance and not even talk to her. In Biology I could sit beside her, talk to her, intake her scent. It was much better then Emmett's stinky smell.

A snow cone, and Bella.

The best day ever.

Rosalie drove to Snow Shack, a paranoid wreck. It's not like she's never sluffed before, we use to do it all the time in ninth grade, but this time was different. Rosalie had become a better student, passing all her classes, never missing a day, not getting in trouble. This was like making a Mormon swearing; it was difficult but yet the greatest thing you could ever do. Breaking a streak.

Rose parked the car in the mall parking lot. We got out and grabbed an umbrella. Sure it was too cold for flavored ice shavings, but it would be worth it in the end. Rose unfolded an umbrella and held it over our heads, linking her arm in mine. I remember the time when she wouldn't even be in the same room as me.

That was about three years ago.

I wasn't sure what had changed in our relationship. It must have been Alice and Jasper, she was best friends with her, I was best friends with him. We had to be friends. It wasn't a choice, just an obligation. There are times when we get annoyed from each other, but we'd always found something that we liked about each other. Like the addiction of a descent snow cone in Forks.

We stood in line, only five others in front of us. Rosalie was constantly looking over her shoulder, eyes branded onto the road.

"Relax," I said to her. She took a deep breath and nodded her head.

"I feel so young," she whispered with enthusiasm.

"Yes because you are so old, be careful so you don't fall and break your hip," I said sarcastically, and jokingly said to her, she rolled her eyes. As her umbrella shielded us from the rain, we waited our turn. Rose jumped a little, making me panic from her frightened tremor. She looked at me and let out a shaky laugh.

"It was just my cell phone." She reached into her pocket and fished out the small pink iPhone. She pressed the talk button and brought it to her ear.

"Hello?"

_Where the fuck are you!? _I heard a deep, angry voice on the other end. It could only belong to one person. Emmett. Rose and Em had been dating since last year, constantly having fights and make out sessions. There was even a bet.

Twenty bucks from me says they don't make it to graduation.

Ten bucks and an old Rolling Stone records from Jasper says Rose dumps him by the end of the year.

Fifty bucks from Alice says they make it farther then we could imagine.

We've learned to not to bet against Alice a few years back, but this was something we all had disagreements about.

"Relax Em, I'm with Edward," Rosalie spoke as we stepped up in line. "Eww. Why would I do that?" she asked with disgust, looking at me like I was road kill. I gave her a crazy look before turning back to the people in front of us.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before lunch ends. Love you too, bye." She hung up and placed her phone back in her pocket. I looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Emmett freaked when we aren't at the table. He then asked me if I had run off with you to..._you know_." She moved her eyes away and gagged.

I did the same, my body crawled with shivers. "Gross."

The couple in front of us moved, leaving us to be the first in line as high school students filled the mall parking lot. Rosalie and I took our orders, eating our snow cones as we passed the others in line and climbed her car.

--

"The best snow cone ever," Rose stated as we sat at our table in the cafeteria.

"You guys suck. Why didn't you invite me?" Emmett asked, pouting at his pudding cup.

"Because you don't have AP English with us," I replied, turning my eyes to _her_ table.

And there she was. As beautiful as ever, eating her food and chatting with the people beside her. She sat beside the boy from yesterday and the newest kid. She was talking mostly to him; he listened to her with wide eyes. It was like she was telling a story to a young child who was amazed by the tale.

He ate his food like she had yesterday, with a scrunched nose and judgmental eyes. Bella was eating her food with much more gratitude, like the others.

Weird.

"Did Angela show up today?" Rosalie asked, taking my attention away from Bella and to Alice.

"No, she's with Ben's parents. You know…helping out," Alice said sadly.

We all sat in silence, mourning the loss of Ben. The bell rang then, making us all grab our things and head to class. I quickly cheered up as I recalled who'd be sitting next to me. I just hope her strange behavior wouldn't be like yesterdays. I smiled as I walked into the classroom, she was just barely taking her seat. I made my way to the desk, at least until I heard Mr. Banner say my name.

"Yes," I said as I turned around. He looked at me from his desk and motioned me over with his index finger; I leaned against the front of his desk.

"The attendance says you were absent for last period but was there for all the others. Care to explain?" He leaned forward, waiting for me to say something.

"Must be a glitch in the system," I said to him, nonchalantly shrugging my shoulders.

"Or...you weren't there. You do know the policy about sluffing school right?" he asked, I remained silent. He sighed and pulled his desk drawer open, the bell rang and I wondered how many eyes were staring at me. Mr. Banner pulled out a small notepad of pink paper squares with writing already on them. He grabbed a pen and in one swift motion he signed his name, ripped the paper from the pad, and handed it to me.

I read it.

Detention.

_Great._

I shoved the paper into my back pocket as I turned to my, I mean _our_, table. Sure enough everyone was staring at me, including Bella. She blushed and smiled at me as I walked past her and took a seat.

To my great luck I didn't get a chance to speak to her. Mr. Banner decided today would be a great day to actually teach us something that acquired us to pay attention and take notes.

It's like this guy was after me.

Thirty eight minutes later (yes I was counting), the bell rang. Everyone jumped out of their seats and eagerly excited the class room. I sadly brushed past Bella and made my way to Geometry. I was aware of Mr. Banner asking Bella to wait; I turned my head before leaving the classroom. He handed her something and stared her straight in the eye while speaking to her.

The object was small and pink.

Looks like he was after Bella too.

**

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**

**A/N -** Snow Cones are good. Sluffing is fun. I should know... Oxygen wasn't here to be the great beta she is. You've just read a raw chapter. Awesome. It shouldn't take too long for the next chapter to come out. The next chapter will have more Bella/Edward time.

I apologize for the boringness. But it's calm before the storm right?

Review please.


	4. Where The Trouble Makers Go

**Where The Trouble Makers Go**

"I can't believe I got detention," Rosalie cried out as we walked to Mr. Terry's room. I sighed and shoved my hands deeper in my pockets, staring down at my shoes that made a squeaking noise against the floors.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I shouldn't have made you ditch class, I could have gone myself," I said in a guilt driven tone.

"No, it's not your fault, Edward. I wanted to go," she replied quickly. I looked up at her as she quickly averted her eyes to the ground and sighed.

"It is my fault. I shouldn't have said that magical word," I rolled my eyes.

"_Snow Cone _is hardly a magical word. Now, 'California' is a magic word. Sunshine, the ocean, hot guys...I'd sluff school over and over for that." Rosalie bit her lip and her blue eyes stared off into the distance. I kept my hand locked onto her elbow as I guided her past and through the students. I watched where both our feet went to take a step, to make sure neither of us fell.

The things I do for a friend.

I should get a medal.

As we walked into Mr. Terry's room, I paused at the door. There she was. Beautiful as ever and extremely sexy as she nibbled on her pen and stared out the window. She sat in the middle of the seats where other students were quickly filling up. As I made my way near her, I remembered Rosalie. She'd be very pissed if I didn't sit next to her but I couldn't let one of these jerks near Bella.

I glanced around the room, looking for the blonde haired girl who'd I gotten in trouble. Her designer outfit was retreating to the back, where she grimaced at the guy in front of her and took a seat. She began motioning for me to take the spot beside her. I groaned mentally.

What was a guy suppose to do?

Sit next to his best friend or sit next to his possible life partner?

I choose option two. I gave an apologetic smile to Rosalie before making my way next to Bella. The brown eyed brunette looked up at me in surprise before smiling. I grinned widely at her as I took my seat.

The bell rang and Mr. Terry looked our way. "I want complete silence for the next half-hour. During that time you all can either read or work on homework, which may be the best thing to do. Crowley - that's probably the greatest advice you'll receive." We all looked back at Tyler who was rolling his eyes. As I turned by head back to the front, I caught site of Rosalie, she was glaring at me.

I winced and faced forward.

I watched Bella pull out a text book out of her backpack, I then did the same; even though I had already finished my homework. Mr. Terry was leaning over his desk, intently grading papers. I started to rip a piece of paper out of my notebook, causing people to stare at me as the noise filled the empty silence. I felt my face get hot but I continued to rip it out.

I fished out a pen and smiled in triumph before scribbling onto the paper.

**What are you in for?**

I sneakily tossed it onto her desk. In my peripheral vision I saw her glance at the paper, then at me, and back to the words. She smiled slightly before writing back and extending her arm out.

**Leaving class without permission. **

I wanted to slap myself. Of course that's the reason. I shook my head before responding to her.

**That's really stupid. What if you were going to vomit or something? I think he'd prefer you puking outside of his classroom. After all the Janitors suck here, he'd have to do it himself.**

She laughed a magical, angelic giggle; making me swoon and the butterflies in my stomach flop around. She turned and looked at me, a large smile on her face. I couldn't help but to smile back. She handed me the note directly, her large doe eyes staring where our hands connected to the piece of paper.

**I should have used that excuse.**

I turned to her. "What do you mean?" I whispered. I didn't have the patience to wait for a written response. She looked at the teacher then leaned toward me.

"I said that he got his blood all over my things and it made me angry. He then proceeded to tell me that walking out of his classroom wasn't a way to deal with my "issues". I kinda laughed in his face. I have detention tomorrow too." She snorted and I followed by with my own chuckle. Mr. Terry looked up at us, ceasing our laughs.

Bella snatched the paper from my desk before returning it to me with new sentence.

**At least **_**you**_** thought it was funny :)**

Her smiley face made me grin. I looked at her. She was staring at me with a glorious smile and a light shade of pink on her cheeks.

"It was," I whispered in a soft tone.

She opened her mouth and whispered back, "Thanks."

I felt my pocket vibrate. I reached into my pocket and opened it under the desk.

_You better run when this is over - Rosalie_

I looked over my shoulder at Rose. She was staring at me with a smirk and mischievous eyes. I swallowed loudly and turned back, snapping my phone shut and shoving it in my pocket.

Great, now I have her on my case.

My eyes snaked down to my open text book. A woman's uterus stared at me as I realized I was bored. It had only been nearly four minutes; I still had twenty six more to go. I had nothing to do, my homework was finished, all my books were in my car and I couldn't even talk to anyone. This was pure torture. I had always hated the guy who invented school, now I hate the guy who invented detention. I glanced around at me at the somewhat familiar faces.

Whatever the reason for detention, it wasn't having an effect on Eric Yorky. He was always here, always getting pink slips and suspensions.

Mr. Terry stood up and walked to the door, he looked back at us. "I'll be right back. Mrs. Kathryn is next door and she'll be listening." We all exhaled as he left the room, I turned to Bella. The talking picked up and I felt envious. I wanted to be a part of that.

"So, Bella?" She turned to look at me. "Any boyfriends?"

She blushed fiercely and her brown eyes went wide, she scoffed and looked forward. I continued to stare at her, to wait for her response.

She looked back at me. "No comment."

"That's not a good answer. Yes or no?" I stated to her, she laughed briefly before answering.

"No comment," she repeated with a joking tone.

"What about that one guy you sit to next at lunch-"

"I sit with a lot of guys at lunch," she cut me off.

"That guy you rode on the motorcycle with?" I finished, she snickered before frowning deeply.

"Jacob and I are just friends." She sighed and looked down at her notebook.

"Oh. So you want to be more than just friends?" I hated saying it. I didn't want Bella to want to be with him, or anyone at that. I wanted her to feel attracted to me.

"Not really. Jacob's the one who wants to be more then friends, but I've told him that I don't feel the same way. But yet, you can never make someone stop liking you. I put up with him, only because I love him. He's my best friend. A brother in a way," she explained to me. I nodded.

I had never been so relieved in my life.

"What about the newer kid. Is _he _your boyfriend?" I asked her, curiosity burning in me.

"Seth? No. I don't have a boyfriend," she smiled at me. Of course I smiled back, I couldn't help it.

"What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked back.

"Not today," I said to her with a wink. She smiled at me, but this time it was fake. I could tell how it didn't touch her eyes, how her face was hard.

"What about that preppy blonde?" she asked, pointing with her thumb over her shoulder.

"Who? Rosalie? No way!" I stated, trying to keep from freaking out and cringing.

"Oh," Bella responded, blushing.

"Is someone jealous?"

She blushed deeper. "Maybe."

That caught me off guard. I assumed she'd lie or say something witty in response. Instead she decided to tease me. What a little devil. A cute one at that.

"Alright. Quiet everyone," Mr. Terry said as he walked back into the classroom. We all boringly turned back to what we were doing before.

--

We were free.

Finally.

I gathered my things slowly, waiting for Bella to leave. Rosalie had already left. Probably trying to get home before her parents would find out about today.

"You're not going to stalk me are you?" Bella asked without looking up.

"Perhaps," I joked.

She smiled up at me and began to walk out of the classroom. I followed her lead like a dog. I felt like Mike Newton.

"So did you hear about what happened yesterday?" I asked her as I walked beside her to the parking lot.

"Um. Yeah," she said, biting her lip and staring at her feet. She gripped her back pack straps, her knuckles turning white. There goes that suspicion again. How Ben's death could relate to Bella was beyond me, but my intuition says something different.

It was silent for the rest of the walk. We both stopped at the curb, staring at the practically empty spaces.

"Do you need a ride?" I questioned her. Just at that moment a loud rumbling noise was heard and once again that motorcycle appeared.

"Thanks. But I already got one," she said as we watched the bike turn into the parking lot.

"So, do you want to go out sometime?" I asked suddenly. Can you say desperate?

She looked at me and then the motorcycle as it pulled up a few feet away. She smiled at me and walked toward him.

"I'll take that as a yes then?" I stated in a questioned tone.

She stuck her hand behind her back, crossing her index finger with her middle one. A promise? Bella continued to smile at me as she climbed onto the back of the bike. I watched her speed away with her so called best friend.

I sighed.

Holy Fuck.

I'm going on a date with Bella Swan.

--

I walked into the front door, shelter from the pouring rain. Carlisle looked up at me from his news paper and took a sip of his coffee. It was one of his night shift weeks.

"Detention, huh?" He asked, patting a spot next to the couch. I sighed and dropped my bag beside the door. I slipped my shoes of and hung my jacket before making my way over to him.

"Yup," I said, collapsing onto the couch. "Am I in trouble?" Carlisle looked at me with his light blue eyes. He pursed his lips then took a deep breath.

"No," he stated with a grin. I smiled back at him as he brought the paper in front of him. I caught site of the headline and began reading with him.

**

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**

Slaughter In Seattle

On October 12th, five teenagers were found dead in the woods near their campsite. Others camping with the teens say that their friends had gone to a cave not too far from the camp zone. At eight P.M they heard loud screams of terror and pleas, along with the sound of strange growling noises. When the campers arrived to the cave they had only found the remains of bodies. They couldn't detect if it was from an animal or if it was a homicide. Detectives are now investigating this horrible loss but it seems that they aren't solving this case fast enough. Just last night a boy from Forks had also been brutally attacked in the woods which led to his fetal death of only age fifteen. Let's not forget the case five weeks ago where a couple visiting from North Dakota both were murdered in a horrible way while asleep. No one is exactly sure what's killing our fellow state members, but all we do know is that the woods are not safe, especially during night time. Parents, we suggest you pay attention to your children. And Adults; a night get away may seem nice, but it won't be when you find yourself in the midst of being murdered. Stay safe.

_October 18th, 2009_  
- Emily Young; Seattle Sanctum Journalist

* * *

Reading this article brought my thoughts to Esme and Alice, panic flooded through me.

"Where's mom?" I asked suddenly, and abruptly. Carlisle jumped slightly.

"They went shopping," he spoke, staring at me intently. "Are you alright, son?"

I ran a shaky hand through my hair, breathing out. "Just got freaked a little. Scary stuff."

My voice broke in a few places. I continued to breathe in and out as I calmed myself and tried to slow my heart rate down. Silly how a few murders could make me so panicked.

"It is. That's why you will be staying out of the woods right?" Carlisle stated, his eyes burning.

"Of course, I don't feel like getting my face chewed off like..." Shit. I almost spilled the beans. "Like these poor kids. That's gotta' suck. Who would have thought that by going camping with friendsw ould lead into death. Not me. No sir'ee"

Carlisle stared at me with raised eyebrows but remained silent. He gave up at his loner staring contest and began folding up his news paper and sipping his coffee.

"Mm!" he hummed, slamming his paper and cup down as he turned to me. "Did you know that Alice and Jasper Hale were together?"

His surprise and excitement had me muffling my laughter with my clamped mouth. "Yeah. I did. When did you find out?"

"Last night. It was around Midnight. Alice had fallen asleep watching E! News once again. When she woke up she asked if she could tell me something. I told her of course and that's when she had said to me that her and Jasper were "in love" and wanted my consent." Carlisle actioned quotations marks with his fingers and slightly rolled his eyes. I couldn't blame him; I'd have the same response.

"You said no, right?" I asked, elbowing him jokingly.

"I gave her my permission to date him. Jasper is a good boy."

I sighed. "Well. I've got homework and stuff. I'll see ya later."

"Alright. Love you, son," he said as I walked past him.

"You too."

In my room I threw my bag onto the floor next to my desk and slipped into a pair of basket ball shorts. I walked into Alice's room and stared at myself in the mirror. My reflection tilted it's head alone with me.

My green eyes looked back at me with a small glow around them. They were my mother's; at least that's what I can tell from the photograph Carlisle and Esme had given me and Alice when we moved in with them. That was a long time ago though. I couldn't remember anything. I guess when I was two and Alice nearly one, our parents died in a horrible car accident. Carlisle and Esme adopted us not to soon after. It didn't take them long to announce that they weren't our birth parents, but Alice took it a little harder than they thought she would. I suppose they figured it would be me, but in my eyes they were always our true parents.

I also had my mother's same color of hair. My bronze locks sat on my head in a messy fashion, but I let it be that way. I didn't feel the need to comb it neatly in place or use hair gels. I loved how it looked like I had just crawled out of bed, ran a hand through it, and went off for the day.

It always made me feel like a rock star.

I looked more like my birth-father though. A distinctive jaw line, and chiseled cheek bones. I looked older then I actually was, which was a plus for me.

Esme had always called me handsome. Alice calls me a looker. Carlisle calls me his little 'go-getter', whatever that means. I had to admit I was good looking. I wasn't plain faced nor ugly faced. In the end I was attractive, even enough for the beautiful goddess also known as Bella Swan.

"If you start wearing my underwear, I'm telling on you," Alice said as she walked into her room and looked surprised to see me.

I rolled my eyes. "I was just looking at myself. I didn't know it was crime to act like Rosalie."

"Well if you get a blonde wig and start wearing high heels, then it may be," Alice commented, setting her shopping bags onto her bed.

"Be sure to visit me when I'm in the slammer," I retorted.

She brought a flat hand to her head and saluted me. "Will do Captain Crunch. Now, why don't you do me a favor and get the hell out."

I rolled my eyes and brushed past her. Back in my room I sat on my bed and pursed my lips. I was bored again but I really didn't want to do anything. I wanted to be one of those people that can do nothing yet not be bored. Like a guy who goes fishing. That sounds nice. Maybe I could go fishing? Me and Carlisle. Together. Father and son.

I quickly jumped up from excitement and ran out of my room. I took the stairs two at a time as I made way to the first level. Carlisle was still sitting on the couch, but this time watching T.V. Carlisle must be as bored as I am.

"Hey, dad?" I called out. He looked up at me as I took my last step on the stairs.

"Can we go fishing. Just you and me?" I asked him. His eyes went wide and his mouth hung open. It took him a moment to gather his thoughts and put himself together. He cleared his throat and straightened.

"Sure. That would be great. How about Sunday? I don't have work," Carlisle spoke to me.

My head bobbed up and down in excitement. "Perfect."

**

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**

A/N

- There's something I've been meaning to say...I love you guys =D Your reviews make my day, seriously. Each one brings a smile to my face and makes me glow. Thanks. You guys are what keeps this story alive.

**Fact **- The best time for me to write is when I feel like I'm going to fall asleep and smash my face into the keyboard.  
**Fact Two **- My characters have a super bad British accent for some odd reason. It's mostly my fault, I can't do accents. But they should have an American accent right? After all they are from America.

Longer chapters are always fun and reviews are made to make me smile. -_hint hint, wink wink_-


	5. Where The Rejected Share Pain

**Where The Rejected Share Pain**

When I was eight, I found out I was allergic to bunnies. How? Alice had just watched 'Alice in Wonderland' and was trying to by like her. She wore a blue dress and wore a blonde wig. One day, we were walking to school and she saw a white bunny. She freaked out! Screamed. Gasped. Did all that excited girl shit.

"Edward! We have to follow him!" she said with pleading eyes.

"But, Alice, we've got to get to school." I didn't want to get in trouble for being late to school.

"Come on, Edward. We're late!" She started running after the bunny then.

"Yeah, late for school," I muttered and quickly ran after her. I had no idea where the white little bunny was, but she seemed to. We ran through backyards, bushes and even ended up in a graveyard. Alice caught that little, speedy bunny. She brought it back to me.

"He won't say anything," she whimpered. I felt bad for the thing. Alice held him tightly in her small arms, smothering him. I took him from her, surprised that she didn't protest.

"Why doesn't he talk? Where's his watch? There was no rabbit hole. This isn't fair." Alice continued to complain and banter, but I held the bunny in my arms. I adored it. Esme and Carlisle had never let us have pets, except for our goldfish who sadly got flushed down the toilet because Alice wanted him to be free. Poor Goldie.

I knew that our parents wouldn't be too pleased if we kept this bunny, but I did the right thing and set it free. It bit me on the nose and kicked me in the chest, and then as it made a dash across the street it got ran over by a diesel. Alice screamed and started crying. I only stood there in a shock.

I took the scared bunny away from a frightening little girl, and then set it free. In that attempt I get hurt and the bunny dies. About twenty minutes later I'm being rushed to the hospital and can't breathe.

At the time I wouldn't put it like this but, _what the fuck?_

I can compare that day to today. The most heartbreaking, bad karma, total suckish day of my life.

_It all started this morning..._

"Dude. You've been ignoring my calls, are you going to ignore me at school now too? That's a very school girl thing to do you know?" Jasper stated, following me as I walked over to a school bench where I planned to sit alone and wait for Bella to arrive.

"Yeah well, not telling your best friend about dating his sister is a very backstabbing thing to do," I replied as I slammed my bag down and took a seat. Jasper sat on the opposite side, looking a little constipated.

"We were going to tell you-" he started but I rightfully cut him off.

"After you two were married and had kids?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair. His blue eyes looked down at his knees.

"Look, I know your angry, hurt and feel a little left out. But, I_ really_ like Alice," he stated with passion.

I felt my eyebrows rise. "Do you love her?"

"I think I do. And if you love Alice, you'll let this go." I stared at Jasper for awhile. He stared back with pleading, promising eyes and I knew that this was real. That he actually did love my sister and that I could trust him.

"Alright," I breathed. He smiled and walked away.

Right on cue Bella showed up on the back of that motorcycle. I felt that familiar smile spread across my face as I sat up and started toward her, waiting for my chance. Bella saw me, grinned briefly before frowning and averted my gaze. I watched her walk past me and to a school building. I followed her; curious to why she had so obviously moved away from me.

She never looked back but by her tense shoulders I could tell she knew I was stalking her like a creeper. I picked up my speed as she started to fast walk, in one flat second she turned around and caused us both to fall. I stayed on the pavement as she stood on her feet.

"Ouch," I stated, rubbing my chest where she slammed into me.

"Sorry," she breathed. I got up and brushed my hands against my pants.

"I was gonna' talk to you but you walked away, why?" I asked her. She glanced at me and the people around, pulled at her backpack straps and shifted uncomfortably.

"Edward. We need to talk," she spoke in a stern voice. I felt my stomach drop to my feet and my heart pace quicken. Bella continued to look around us. She grabbed my elbow and led me to the back of the school. It began to rain as the bell rang, and we hid behind the school building.

"Man-handle much?" I asked her as she released my elbow.

"Sorry," she said again.

"So, what's up?" I was kind of antsy to get this conversation over with. The bell had rung and I didn't want to get into too much trouble.

"Edward. I can't go out with you," Bella said softly.

"We can plan for another day." _As long as were together, _I added mentally in my head.

"No, Edward," she said in a dark tone. It made me actually pay attention and look at her. Her brown eyes were watering but were hard. Her brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail and her cheeks had a pink tinge to them. "I can't go out with you ever."

"Why?" I asked in a sad voice.

Bella bit her lip and looked down. "I just can't okay. I have to go to class." With that she turned around and disappeared, leaving me alone. Immediately a stinging sensation reached my eyes and I was blinking back tears. My stomach felt queasy and my heart had a pinching feel to it. I had been rejected. I had never been rejected before, not once. I had never been willing to open myself up, to be vulnerable.

And this is why.

I was never one to try to be with someone - to try and get someone to want to be with me. In fact, I hadn't really ever felt this way for a girl. It was insane. Who would have thought one person whom I only knew for about two days could make me feel like this? Make me react like this? I hadn't cried since Alice decided it would be funny to stick a tampon in my backpack in sixth grade. I went home and bawled to Esme.

Alice walked in and the first thing she said was, "Sixth grade is a bitch, then you menstruate." She got grounded for three weeks. Two of them were for embarrassing me the last was because she said bitch.

I sniffled and blinked back the tears as I made my way to class, wishing the day was over.

--

"Are you okay, Edward?" Rosalie asked as she sat beside me. I ignored her and continued to stare at Bella from across the cafeteria. Every now and again she'd look up with guilt filled eyes and look away. _Good_, I would think. _Feel guilty_. Right now, if Bella hadn't practically dumped me I'd be freaked about Rosalie sitting next to me. I had been waiting for her to start nagging about how I am with Bella. But Rosalie didn't speak to me again, in fact she left.

"Where's she going?" Alice asked as her and Emmett took their seats.

"I don't care," Emmett muttered.

"Are you two in a fight again?" Alice questioned, probably rolling her eyes. I wouldn't know, I was busy starring at Bella.

"_Were _in a fight. We broke up last night," Emmett stated. I removed my eyes from Bella and turned them on Emmett.

"What? Why?" I asked.

He sighed and pushed his tray away from him. "I couldn't handle her drama anymore. She's been acting weird, like as if she's not even into me anymore. I think there's someone else. Have you seen her with another guy?"

Alice and I shook our heads.

"The last guy I seen her with was Edward," Alice stated. I didn't have to worry about Emmett accusing me or being suspicious. He knew I'd never be with Rosalie. I couldn't even picture it. The only person I saw me with was Bella.

We all remained quietly after that. Alice texted Jasper (he skips lunch and takes an extra course for Math), Emmett ate food from all of our trays and I stared at Bella; who no longer looked back up at me.

When the bell rang, I felt myself actually dreading to sit next to Bella. But to my great luck (I think), she wasn't there. I spent the rest of the class period wanting her to be there just so I could pout. And then for the rest of the day I thought about how fucked up I was.

--

2:13 AM

That's what my alarm clock, my phone and my computer said. I paced back in forth in the darkness. It was another case of insomnia, nothing new. I got it a lot, especially in the summer.

But this time I wasn't just waiting for the sun to wake up. I was waiting for Rosalie. She had called me while crying. I was constantly saying "Rose, what's wrong?" - "Rose stop crying so I can understand you." - "Rose, take deep breaths." - "Rosalie, tell me what happened." Her only response was a tearful "This sucks."

I could tell that she was upset by Emmett breaking up with her. I guess I get to keep my twenty bucks and get sixty dollars in return along with an old Rolling Stone album. I would have liked to jump and down like a girl, but knowing that Rosalie was in pain would make me feel even worse. As I continued to walk the empty space, I heard a grunting noise from outside.

I quickly rushed to the window where I opened it. I peered over the ledge to see Rosalie scaling the side of my house. I sighed. I should have told her to use the front door. But she made it safely to the top. Her blonde hair was in a messy bun and her face was bare of nothing but red from the coldness, and from crying. She wore sweatpants and a hoodie; which was Emmett's. She also wore a pair of sneakers which nearly shocked me. Rosalie was _anti-anything without a boost of height._ It was even worse because they were Jasper's.

I was going to punch Emmett the next time I saw him.

I reached out with my hand and pulled Rose through my window, and securely in my room.

"Thanks," Rose whispered.

"No problem." Rosalie pouted and tears formed in her eyes before she slammed into my and began crying. I held her closer to me and rubbed her back.

"Shh…It's okay," I said to her over and over. Rosalie continued to sob into my chest as I held her. We stood there for almost fifteen minutes before I led her to my bed. I pulled back the covers and laid her down. She crawled into a fetal position and cried into my pillow. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. What was I going to do with her? Rose was never like this, she never cried. It made me want to beat the shit out of Emmett for doing this to her.

I looked at the clock.

2:50 A.M

I would have to be up and dressed at six by Esme's clock. But Rosalie's mental and emotional needs were more important. I walked to the other side of my bed and sat crossed legged beside Rosalie. She looked up at me with her watery blue eyes as she desperately gasped for air to speak.

"I'm so-sorry Ed-Edward, I really, really am," she sobbed. I nodded my head and brushed strands of her hair back; doing this seemed to calm Rose. She stopped sobbing and her body stopped compulsing from the cries. I continued to brush her hair back and even wipe away her tears. I was doing this to sooth her, to tell her that everything was okay.

Rosalie didn't understand that.

To my sudden and blunt surprise, Rosalie pulled herself up into a sitting position and crushed her lips onto mine. I started to push her away but, I pushed her with my lips. I think I kissed her back.

This is wrong, so fucking wrong.

But it felt right, so fucking right.

Rosalie snaked her arms around my neck and pulled me closer to her. My own arms went around her waist and I also pulled her closer. Her lips opened on mine. I quickly followed Rose's lead and opened mine own. She took in my bottom lip and sucked on it gently; I did the same and captured her full lips with a hard kiss.

This was wrong. It was like I was taking advantage of Rose's pain, but I wasn't. I didn't like Rose like this, I really didn't. Right now I couldn't help but to wish this was Bella instead.

God, that'd be wonderful. To have my hands roam across Bella's body, to feel her heat as she straddled me and kissed me roughly and passionately. The way Rose's tongue pushed itself into my mouth had me gasping. What if it was Bella's? I couldn't keep myself from touching tongue's with Rose as I pictured her being Bella.

My hands made their way up to Bella's brown hair, where I tugged the ponytail free and her chocolate locks fall around her shoulders. My fingers laced into her hair and pulled them softly, making her whimper and push herself into my body even more. Her curves seem to fold perfectly on my body and I can't help but to shudder.

"You taste so good." Rosalie's voice ruined everything, and brought me back to reality. My eyes snapped open and my mouth became stiff. Shit. I was seriously making out with Rosalie. Her eyes opened. Lust and passion was all I could see, her lips were slightly red and swollen and she grinned at me. I didn't smile back; there was no way I could.

I was mortified.

I pushed Rosalie's body away from me and I dashed out of the bed.

"This is wrong, huh?" she asked in a small voice.

I nodded my head. "Very."

She began crying again. She pulled her legs up to her chest and tucked her head into her knees. I grimaced and walked back over to her.

"Rose what's going on? Emmett and you have broken up plenty of times. This is no different than the others," I spoke to her.

"It's not that." She replied, her voice muffled from her knees.

"Then what is it?" I wondered.

She pulled her face out of her legs and crossed them. She wiped at her tears and sniffled as she pulled her back into a ponytail.

"Uhm, I went to the Doctor's because I hadn't had a period for a few months," I groaned mentally and wished I could cover my ears. But I took in Rose's expression and knew this was serious. "They did some tests and I found out that I - that I couldn't have children." A loud sob released from her mouth and she covered her face with her hands. I quickly pulled her back into my arms for a sympathetic hug.

My door creaked open and I jumped.

"Edward? Rosalie? What in the world is going on?" Esme asked while tying her bathrobe together. Rosalie and I were now separated as the bed would let us be, but Esme sensed something was wrong.

"Rosalie? Why don't you come downstairs with me?" My mom asked. Rosalie nodded her head and pulled away from the bed. She and Esme left my room, and I let out a deep breath.

I crawled under my own covers and let sleep take over me, all the while feeling like a piece of shit.

I was the other guy.

**

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**

**A/N -** No beta once again, but that's okay.  
I do not own the 'What The Buck' Quote, "Sixth grade is a bitch, then you menstruate."

Huge thanks to the people who review. I won't name names but if I reply back to your review, that means I secretly want to marry you. If only you guys were Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Jackson Rathbone, Mitchell Davis, Shane Dawson, Zac Bagans, Craig Olejink, Shia Labeouf, Nick Jonas, Carter Jenkins, Will Pugh...and many more.

**Fact **- It's always been my dream for Rosalie and Edward to be together. -dodges rocks, tomatoes, shoes etc..-  
**Fact Two** - I've never kissed a boy like that, that's why it may seem bad.


	6. Where The Young Become The Mighty

**Where The Young Become The Mighty**

"Is there something you need to tell me son?" Carlisle asked as he took a seat on top of his desk.

"No!" I roared. Esme had already sat down and asked me if Rose and I were a couple. I denied everything. They've got to be insane to think Rosalie and I were together. For years me and Rosalie had somehow fought about something, we bickered and were mean to each other. All signs of a..._couple of teens crushing on each other._

Fuck.

No wonder why they thought we had a thing going on. But I've never liked Rosalie liked that. I had never once thought of her as something more than a friend. In fact, she was more of a sister to me than anything. A sister who I made out with and who I felt up and who I got...hot for.

"There's no need to keep your relationship a secret. If you and Rose want to-"

I cut him off, "Rosalie and I are not together. We never wore nor will we ever be!" I jumped out of his brown leather chair, and began to bend my fingers, cringe and shutter in disgust.

He sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. Can I go to school now?" I begged.

He nodded his head and I quickly dashed out the door. I tugged at the sleeves of my blue sweater. It had snowed this morning, bringing in the colder air. I slipped my jacket on and bent down to tie my sneakers. In the corner of my eyes I saw a body walk towards me. I sighed as I realized who it was.

"Can we talk?" Rose's somber voice carried through my ears. I stood straight and nodded my head. She was wearing one of Esme's summer dresses and a pair of her heels. She grabbed my elbow and led me out the door. There was a thin white blanket of snow covering most of the land, I sighed. Rosalie slid on one of Alice's non-fitting puffy coats and zipped it up. She followed me down the porch steps and to the Volvo.

"I want to thank you for letting me come over so late, for being there for me," she murmured. I nodded my head and unlocked her door before walking to my side. We climbed inside the car and I turned it on, letting it warm up before I turned the heat on.

"I also want to apologize for," Rosalie paused for a moment and searched for the right word. "For what I did. I had no right to kiss you." I looked at her for a moment. Her eyes were locked on her hands. Through what I could see, Rosalie was in pain. I wasn't sure if it was because of Emmett, her broken baby factory, or for kissing me. Whatever the reason, it made me feel horribly guilty.

"I kissed you back remember?" my voice was full of anguish. I was sure Rosalie would notice.

"Only because I put you in a state of confusion. Edward, this is _all _my fault. I want the blame. Let me have it, please." She looked at me with her teary blue eyes. I sighed in defeat and turned the heat on.

"I'm still going to kick Emmett's ass."

--

And I was.

As soon as we arrived at school, I was on the hunt. Emmett could probably smell my anger from another room. I hadn't seen him once all day. I had never been so excited to learn where babies came from. Once the fourth period bell rang I made my way to Health, the first class I shared with Emmett. I heard the sound of strumming strings and knew that it was Jasper.

Mr. Tucker must have not been in the classroom, he would have for sure bitched out on Jasper playing. But as I walked into the room I realized it wasn't Jasper. It was Emmett, sitting on a desk in the back of the classroom; playing the guitar and singing to Tanya and Kate.

"You are the reason why I won't be sleeping tonight. Yet, you are the reason why I even feel alive." I snorted as I heard him a verse of a song he'd wrote in ninth grade for Rosalie. He was such an ass. Playing Rose's song to the school sluts, he was going to get beat even worse. I wouldn't even worry about his extra weight and muscles. I was skinny and fast, I had better reflexes.

I glared at him as I took my seat. Mr. Tucker walked into the classroom, the music silenced and I heard a small scuffle as everyone took their seats. Emmett sat beside me in his assigned seat, passing his guitar to Jasper who was behind me. I blinked lazily and stared at the white board. He had no idea what was in store for him.

None.

"So, Edward," Jasper whispered as Mr. Tucker popped in a movie. The Miracle of Life. "I heard that Rose spent the night." Emmett stiffened in the corner of my eye, I grinned wickedly. I turned my head to the side, facing Emmett but spoke to Jasper.

"Yeah," I whispered back. "She climbed in through my window." Emmett glared at me, his pencil threatening to snap in his large grip.

"What happened?" Jasper questioned.

I laughed darkly in my mind. "Let's just say my bed had more people in it then it usually does."

Snap.

R.I.P #2 pencil.

"You didn't!?" Emmett growled through clenched teeth.

"Now I see why you were so smug all the time. Rose is a pro," I lied.

He shot straight up; my own body followed his lead.

"Mr. McCarty, Mr. Cullen. Sit. Now!" our teacher demanded. We ignored him and continued to stare angrily at each other. Both our fists were clenched, our jaws pressed down hard and our nostrils were flared. I could feel the excitement buzzing around us. What was it about fights that thrilled people? That made them stop what they were doing just so they could see someone get harmed?

Teenagers were messed up.

Mr. Tucker walked over to us with his large frame, preparing to pull us a part if needed.

"I will not be having this in my class. If you two need to talk, I suggest after school," he spoke.

"No!" Emmett and I growled at the same time. Before I knew it his fist made contact with my nose, pain shot through my sinuses and I quickly threw my fist back, hitting only the air. He came back around, jabbing his elbow into my stomach. He didn't get enough momentum because Mr. Tucker started pushing us away. I immediately made my chance, remembering Rosalie's pain brought back more anger. I slammed my knuckles into his chin.

"That's enough!" Mr. Tucker growled. I felt Jasper's hand tug on my arm and felt myself being pulled apart.

"My office. Now!" he roared at us. I wiped my nose and sighed at the blood on my sleeve. I pulled away from Jasper and walked into Mr. Tucker's office. He was the coach of the not-so-great football team. Emmett pushed past me and into a seat. I rolled my eyes and scooted my chair away from him before sitting.

"I want you two to talk," he said as he shut the door. He took a seat in his chair. I leaned back in the metal chair and crossed my arms.

"What's your problem?" Emmett asked.

"Rosalie, that's what," I stated.

He turned and looked at me. "What are you talking about. Last time I checked you two were trying your hardest not to kill each other and know...your _sleeping_ together! You're fucking disgusting, you know that?" I sat straight up, turning my body to him.

"I am not sleeping with Rosalie."

"Then what was that with Jasper, all that smug shit?" he questioned.

"Rosalie called me at like, one in the morning, crying. She asked if she could come over and I said yes. She was still crying when she was at my house. And you know why?" I asked, sarcastic curiosity leaking from all sides.

"Because I broke up with her," he said in a somber tone.

"No. Because she found out that she can't have kids. That's why she's been 'acting weird', and you dumping her was just what she needed in her state."

A crease formed in his eyebrows. "Are you sure?"

I leaned back and wiped at my nose. "Positive."

He also pressed his back into the chair, his body falling down a bit as he stared at the empty space in front of him. You could feel the guilt around him, but the confused look on his face didn't make it seem that way. I had to admit that I was feeling guilty.

Emmett had no idea what was going on with Rosalie, he did the only thing he could do at that time. Rosalie's sudden funky mood made him scared and confused. What was he suppose to do?

--

"Guess what's going on next Friday!?" Alice chimed as she took her seat. Her small frame blocked my few of Bella; who was still ignoring me.

"What?" I asked.

"A party!" She squealed.

"What are you talking about?" I questioned.

She sighed and handed her pudding cup to Emmett, who grinned widely. Alice looked at me with her small yet large eyes. Her mouth opened and all of a sudden my mind was screaming, _RUN!_

"You know how mom and dad are going to Cali for the weekend? Well, I'm throwing a party. Costume of course. I wouldn't have it any other way. Everyone is invited, so feel free to bring a date or a buddy or whatever. There will be alcohol too, if I can find someone who would get it for us," she bit her small lip and her eyes lit up. "I can ask Jessica's brother! He's old enough."

At this point I began to zone her out, my body tilt to the side. I peeked over my sister's shoulder and spotted Bella talking to herself. No. Not herself. She was talking to Jacob, she was mad too. He said something back, she looked up from her tray and at the people around her. Her face grew from anger, to hope then to disappointment. She shot straight up, grabbing her book bag and walking away from the table.

She was headed my way. No not my way. To the exit. But it didn't stop her from looking at me. She sighed and sort of smiled before disappearing out the door. I bit my lip. Should I go after her? I turned my head to see her staring back at me as she walked out of the door. Yes, I should. I grabbed my back pack and coolly walked outside.

She continued to walk ahead of me, looking back every now and again. She led me straight to the woods just outside our school. She was sitting on a fallen tree, staring at her shoes.

"I'm sorry," she spoke as soon as I was in hearing distance.

"For what?" I asked. She brushed back some of her brown hair and looked up at me with her large doe eyes.

"Being such a jerk. Ignoring you. Messing with your head," she sighed. I sat beside her, feeling her warmth.

"What do you mean?"

"I," she turned toward me, her hands pressed together and between her knees. Her eyes continued to look down as she opened her mouth and began to speak. Her eyes flashed toward me faster than I would have seen. "I want to go out with you. I really do. But I'm not...allowed to go out with you."

"Oh," was all I could manage to say.

We sat there for a moment in silence, our breathing defined by the fog and our warmth shared between us two.

"What if we...you know, secretly dated?" I mustered.

I felt her lips on top of mind suddenly, before I could kiss her back she pulled away. I looked into her brown eyes.

"I think that's a brilliant idea."

**

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**

A/N

- I thank Tom Felton for the lyrics. His accent is really potent and makes me squirm. In a good way.

Sorry for the long wait, I got addicted to twitter and have been busy with The Sparkle Awards. I'm so excited for the 12th, but I already know who won!

As for Rosalie; she's just a hot mess right now. I plan on destroying the world around her, why? I don't know. She was just an unlucky target. I'm sorry for these boring filler chapters, but I can't just come out with everything. I've got to work my way around them. It will be worth it, hopefully. -crosses fingers, toes, eyes, tongue, liver, lungs...everything!-

Costume party next time! What will you be dressing up as?


	7. Where The Honey Jars Bring Joy

**Where The Honey Jars Bring Joy**

It would be a lie if I said that I loved Bella Swan. But I am falling hard for her.

It's insane. Bella and I have only been 'secretly' going out since last Friday, and now it's been a week. Tonight was the party. She was coming.

I was so excited. Like an executioner getting to chop up a horrible criminal in lots of tiny pieces. Bella would finally get to meet my friends, she'd finally become a bigger part of my life. And soon, I'd be a big part to hers. She's told me repeatedly that she was sick of hiding, that she just wanted to hold my hand when and where she wanted (that made my heart jump) and how stupid her friend's were. I couldn't agree more.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out faster than a ninja.

**Getting ready for the party. Jake won't stop calling me. -B**

**I'm sorry. I'll beat him up if you'd like, unless he eats my face first. -E**

She didn't respond for a long time after that, and when she did it wasn't much.

**Silly. - B**

**I've gotta' get ready. See you when you get here. - E**

That was a lie. I was ready. I've _been _ready for nearly an hour. Downstairs I could hear the muffled beats of a song and the laughter of early birds and my friends. The party was starting in about five minutes. I left my room and headed to the first floor, excited and nervous.

The house had an orange tinge to it. Fake cobwebs with plastic spiders were everywhere. Little tombstones were placed in corners and beside doors. This place looked like Richy Rich's Halloween party. Alice. Fucking woman. But I had to hand it to her, when she goes all out, she goes.

She walked past me, wearing her beloved mouse costume that she got during the summer. I turned my head into the direction she was going, it was towards Rosalie. Rose and I had gotten over the discomfort and were back to being friends. She and Emmett were back together, and for once in my life I was glad that they were bickering like a married couple. I followed after them, wondering why they were standing outside the bathroom door.

I soon found out why once I got closer.

"There's no fucking way in hell I'm coming dressed like _this!_" Emmett roared from the opposite side of the white door.

"It's just Halloween Em. Besides. It'll be cute," Rose pepped. Alice and Rosalie looked at me as I walked up beside them. Alice's eyes scrunched up.

"What are you?" The mouse asked.

"I'm Shaggy," I stated, playing with the fake batch of hair on my chin. Rosalie chuckled and I looked at her.

"What are you? A prom queen from hell?" She was wearing a large tiara and a sparkly dress, her hair was curled tightly and didn't move when she shook her head.

"No. I'm Miss California." She turned to face me fully. She wore a sash that read Miss California with an anti-gay sticker. I laughed.

"Why does he get a normal costume?" Emmett asked.

Alice jumped in. "He's not even wearing one. He just has some carpet on his face and that's all. The party is about to start, Em. Get your ass out before I bring Jasper into this!"

"Where is Jazz?" I asked.

"He's putting more water into his water gun. A cowboy is no man without his green, plastic, low pressure water shooter," Rosalie chimed.

"Fine," Emmett grumbled.

The bathroom door handle jiggled, slowly it opened and Emmett stepped out. I think I peed a little.

The three of us burst out in laughter, holding our sides to keep from crumpling into a million pieces. Emmett was dressed in a large Winnie the Pooh costume. His large face was framed by the yellow color of Pooh's fur. He crossed his arms in the large body suit, glaring.

"Yeah, yeah. Real hilarious. I fucking hate you, Rose," Emmett said, pouting.

Rosalie walked into the bathroom and pulled out a honey jar just like the one the cartoon always had. She put into his chest and his arms quickly came up and got it.

"Here's your honey, Pooh bear. Why don't you go crazy and have fun." Emmett looked into the jar and smiled widely. His paws dipped into it, pulling out a flask. He stared at adoringly then at Rose.

"I love you."

"Yeah, yeah. Now shut the hell up and go help Jasper with his chaps." Rose turned on her heel and disappeared into a small group. Alice patted me on the chest and followed after her. Emmett set his honey jar on a table and untwisted the flask. The door bell rang as he took a swig, hiding it back in his honey jar.

"Shall we party, Shag?" he asked. I chuckled and nodded my head.

--

A half an hour to midnight and she still hasn't showed up.

I wanted to say I was worried, but I was more upset.

She told me she was coming. We were going to announce our relationship. We'd be able to spend every day of the hour together. But no! She just had to not fucking show up!

"What's your problem?" Jasper asked, a little tipsy from the booze someone had brought.

"Nothing," I muttered. I stared at my feet while sitting on a step on the stairs. Jasper leaned against the railing, staring at the people in costumes.

"Jessica's gotten hot," he said, pointing to a brunette who was dressed as a cute bumblebee.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Dude! You're sixteen! You'll be seventeen soon! Why don't you go get laid for your first time and become the player we all know you are!" Jasper shouted over the loud music. I stared at his pink cowboy hat and sighed. I opened my mouth to speak but instead I was running up the stairs to answer my phone that was vibrating my pocket.

"Bella?" I asked.

"Edward. Hi,"her voice carried through my ear and trembled down my body.

"Where are you?" I asked with a bit of acid in my tone.

"Some unexpected things happened. I'm so sorry. I'm on my way right now."

"Alright, see you when you get here." I hung up the phone and continued to mope. I realized that doing this was stupid. Jessica was making sex eyes with me so I decided that a bit of fresh, cold air was all I needed. I cut through the bouncing crowd and made my way out the front door, sighing at the clarity. I walked along the porch, leaning on the railing. I looked to my left, nothing. I looked to my right and I could see someone crossing the drive.

When I realized who it was I nearly jumped off the porch. I ran down the steps and towards Bella. But as I got closer and closer, I could see some things weren't like they should. Her hair was a mess, only being held up by a ponytail. Her blue long sleeved dress was torn and spotted with red. Her right arm was crossed of her chest, clutching her left arm that was leaking with blood.

"Bella! What happened?" I asked, rushing to her hurt arm.

"It's nothing," she muttered.

"_Nothing!_ Bella you're bleeding!" I shouted.

She shook her head. "I'm fine. I fell and hurt myself. I just need a bandage and I'll be okay." Her lips trembled and goose-bumps popped up on her skin.

"Let's get you inside," I stated. She smiled and nodded her head. I put my hands behind her, palming her back. I pushed her forward and together we walked into the loud revelry. I made sure that no one bumped into Bella and lead her up the stairs, and into my bathroom. I lifted her up onto the sink counter where she so cutely blushed.

"My dad's a doctor. Prepare for Nurse Edward. Nurse by night, handsome by day, and Ninja by mid-afternoon." She giggled, making me smile.

"You're such a dork," she blurted.

"At least I'm not a creeper like you!" I retorted.

She gasped. "Hey. Just because I accidently tripped into the boys bathroom does not mean I'm a creeper!"

"Sure. That'll hold up in court."

"Just take care of my arm, Nurse Edwina."

--

"What are you anyways?" I asked Bella as we made our way back down to the party.

"Belle. From Beauty and The Beast. I had a book but lost that when I hurt myself," she said.

"And who's your beast?" I questioned.

"Hmm..." She looked over the banister, searching for someone. Her head snapped back at me, smiling widely she said, "Pooh Bear of course!"

**

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**

**A/N - **So sorry for the long wait! It's so unlike me. Except for one story but that doesn't count. I've just been getting sidetracked with anything but this. And I'm sure your all tired of waiting to find out the secrets. Well, like always. We've got a little ways to go. I'm just as eager as you all.

I'm starting online school on the 24th. I'm kinda going to be busy a little bit more but I'll make time. I know I'll have plenty of time even if I'm over reacting now.

This Edward is mine. I like to call him Teenward. Bella has her own name too, but if I said it then I'd be giving away the secret**.**

I just realized I'm being super lazy on this story.


	8. Where The Caged Animals Escape

**Where The Caged Animals Escape**

**Bella's Point Of View**

I opened the front door of my home and quietly shut it, wincing at the impact sound when it locked in place. I locked the dead bolt and turned around, jumping as I saw Charlie towering over me. My hand came to my heart and I felt it beat thunderously underneath my palm.

"Dad, you scared me," I sated. He leaned against the banister and crossed his arms, clucking his tongue at me.

"Good. You need to be scared Bells," he replied. I looked down at my feet, knowing he was right.

After a minute or two of silence, he spoke, "Bella. I know you weren't at Leah's. Wanna' tell me where you've been for the last seven hours?" I glanced at the clock, only noticing that it was 12:41 A.M.

"I was out," I whispered.

"Out where? 'Cause it sure as hell wasn't La Push!"

"I know," I whispered more. Charlie was angry, even for his rough and gruff style, he was pissed.

"Bella! What the hell is going on!? Did you come live with me just so you can rebel and do stupid shit all the time!?"

I sighed. "No. I came to be with my father!" It was mostly a whine. I hated the fact that I never got to do the things like I wanted. Ever since I met Jacob the first day I got here, nothing's been the same.

"I can't do this Bella. You've done nothing by lie to me since you've been here. I think it's time that you go back home to you're..." But then he remembered. He always did. He sighed and his eyes grew sad.

"Go home to who Dad? The dead plants in the living room? The sour milk? I have no one! I don't even have my own father!" I shouted at him. I ran past him and up the stairs, locking myself in my room. I heaved myself away from the brown wood and crawled onto my bed, sighing at the feel of its softness.

I've missed this bed. I'd only slept in it twice since I've been here. If I wasn't sleeping on this bed it was Jake's or Leah's or Seth's - always someone else's bed but my own. That's how everything's been. I'm never alone. I can never do anything alone. I never get peace. It's like I'm an infant or something. I always have someone hovering over me. I pulled my pillow to my chest, squeezing it roughly.

That's when it happened. I cried. Like a little kid who slammed her fingers in the door, I bawled like I was dying. I kept my cries muffled by the thick pillow, letting my tears soak everything in sight. It was the first time I cried in a long time. It felt good, great even. But I cried even worse as I realized I was actually crying...like a teenage girl. This was ridiculous, I didn't even cry at my own Grandmother's funeral but yet I was crying over the fact my life had turned to shit? Not cool, not cool at all.

I thought of Edward though, he'd been my silver lining through this whole thing. Even though I knew he was a dork who didn't know how to tie his shoes without doing the bunny ears. He was a sugar-aholic when it came to pixie sticks and had a tendency to zone out to much.

Edward _was _my dork, my bronze haired, sugar loving, dork.

Just thinking off him made my tears turn into grins. I chuckled as I thought about him, everything he did always put me in smiles. He was like a drug, an awesome drug. I'd never want to get clean and get him out of my system. He was my dork-drug for life. I looked down, noticing Edward's black jacket. I sighed and grinned as I remembered him handing it to me as I prepared to leave the party.

I also remembered my arm.

I quickly slipped out of the jacket, double checking my door to see that it was locked. Once I confirmed that it was I slipped my torn sleeve over my shoulder, grimacing at the blood oozing from the bandaged. It was old blood, but it didn't change the fact that it was gross and nauseating. I grimaced and winced as I pulled the material away from my arm, gagging at the open hole.

"Lovely," I groaned.

"Damn hunter..." I muttered as I walked to the tweezers on my dresser. I grabbed the small metal and turned on all the lights in my room, making it too bright. I squinted my eyes as I sat on my bed, bringing my right hand to the open wound. I bit my tongue as I dipped the metal into the hole, clutching my knee as the pain took over. I bit my tongue a little too hard, blood oozed in my mouth and I let it go. I pulled the metal out, taking a deep breath.

"Fuck," I swore as the pain lingered. "Five seconds of pain or an infection full of questions?" I asked myself, keeping my eyes tightly shut.

"Five seconds of pain," I groaned before I nearly screamed. I shoved the tweezers into the now bleeding hole, moving it around until it hit something. I went for it, reaching for the bullet that was lodged into my skin. I pulled out, silently screaming as it vanished from my body. I gasped and felt sweat dampen my forehead. I brought the bullet to the front of my eyes, glancing at the small thing.

"Bastard," I said to it, sighing as I realized I was talking to objects that had no way of talking back...unless I was on drugs or crazy. Pain continued to shoot through my arm. I glanced down at it as purple and red edged around the hole. I prepared myself for the worst of the pain, gripped my bed post and smashed my jaw down. I never took my eyes of the wound, it still amazed to this day.

The skin broke apart, flakes of it falling towards the floor, leaving my muscle to be its replacement. Pain circled around the hole; heat, as if I was being burnt and hit with a paintball gun. The pale tones around the muscle ran across it like water, sinking into the wound like a black hole. The red tinge to the skin quickly blended back to my white tone, leaving me with a fresh and healthy patch of skin. I relaxed as the pain faded away, letting out a deep exhale. I stared at my blood stained dress, wasn't that just a way to kick of this night. I used _my _money to get it, only for this!?

I sighed anyways and slipped out of it, kicking it into a corner of dirty cloths I had been meaning to get to. I opened my dresser drawers and searched for something to wear, ending up with one of Jacob's large shirts. It came down to my knees, looking like a dress. I pulled the sleeve up so it wouldn't get ruined with my drying blood. I grabbed a dirty towel and wiped at my scratch free arm, taking off the blood. I threw the blue towel on the ground and switched off the lights, after that I slipped under my covers. I smiled at the thought of sleeping by myself and in my own bed for once.

It didn't take me long to fall asleep.

It didn't take me long to be woken up either.

My eyes peered up as I felt my sheets move against my body, I snapped my head over my shoulder. Groaning and rolling to face the body next to me.

"What are you doing here!?" I shouted in a whisper.

"I was in the neighborhood," the boy said.

"Seth. You're _always_ in the neighborhood! I told you that tonight was my night, that I wanted to be alone. Go home," I roared at him. I pulled my blankets off him and started pushing him with my bare feet.

"Bells. Please don't kick me out," he whimpered. In the darkness I could see his pouty lips. I bet his eyes were watering. I sighed.

"Fine. But please, please let me sleep. No snoring, no moving and no farting, kay?" He nodded his head and I turned on my side again. Letting sleep come back to me.

--

_Ring. Ring. Ring. _

_I'm not here right now. Or, I'm asleep. Either way your phone call is not going to be answered. Leave a message after that obnoxious beep and I will most likely get back to you, or not._

"Gah!" I shouted. I pressed the red button and called his phone again.

_Ring. Ring. Pick Up. Ring. Pick. The. Fucking. Phone. Up. Now! Ring. _

_I'm not here right-_

This was so out of character for Edward. He always picked up when I called, even if it was six in the morning. I swear that kid never slept. Either that or he slept with his phone, which I could clearly imagine.

Seth rolled over and his hip dug into mine. I groaned and pulled myself away from him, which led me to land on the floor with a loud thud.

"Ow!" Seth shot straight up and glanced around the room in a panic. He looked down at me and his eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing on the floor?" he asked.

"I fell," I stated, pulling myself up onto my feet.

"Oh. Well Klutzilla, be more careful," he replied before laying back down.

"It's your fault," I said to him. He looked up at me.

"I really doubt that. Once a klutz, always a klutz," he stated.

"What about you? Once immature, always immature," I retorted. He chuckled and yawned. I walked over to my dresser and played with random objects as I waited for Edward to call me back.

"You really need to learn how to not talk in your sleep," Seth spoke.

"What'd I say this time?" I asked him.

"Oh, Edward," he began in a dramatic girly tone. "Your skin is so soft. Kiss me, please.."

I scoffed and threw something at him, not positive what it was.

"Missed me," he said, sticking out his tongue.

"Seriously. What did I say?"

He sighed. "You just said Edward repeatedly, I even witnessed an 'I'm sorry'. Do you have any idea what Jacob would do if he heard you saying anything about him?"

"Probably kill him," I muttered.

"Exactly!"

"When is he going to get it through his thick skull that him and I will never be?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"I'd say in about..oh.." Seth pursed his lips and look up at the ceiling; he then looked back at me, "never."

"I wish you were wrong," I groaned.

"I'm never wrong," he stated, shutting his eyes.

"I know," I whispered.

**Edward's Point of View**

I was going to kill Emmett McCarty, at least until I found out Carlisle and Esme were coming home early. Alice and I were like tornado's, but instead of creating destruction we were creating a clean environment.

"I can't believe they're coming home early," Alice muttered.

"I can't believe Emmett flushed my cell phone down the toilet," I spoke as I flipped a stained cushion around.

"Stop being a boob. You knew something bad was going to happen when you handed it to him," she said, shoving plastic cups into a garbage bag.

"Yeah. But now I can't call Bella to tell her that I can't call her until I get a new one," I replied.

"You'll see her Monday. And knowing mom you'll have one before lunch." I nodded my head, agreeing that she was right.

"But if you keep moping and stop cleaning, we'll never have a social life again!" she shouted. I nodded once more and quickly began cleaning, working faster than before.

By ten A.M., we had the house clean and we were casually watching a movie. I'm not positive about which one it was, it could have been Bambi for all I knew.

Our parents walked in, we looked over to see Esme lugging shopping bags and Carlisle juggling fishing material.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked.

"Well," Carlisle began, setting things on the floor behind our couch. "I felt bad about skipping our fishing trip last weekend and thought that we could do it right now."

"Right now? What happened to your meeting in Seattle?" I questioned more.

"I really didn't have to be there, Esme just wanted to get away for awhile. I think she's mad at me for cutting the trip, but she'll get over it," he said, waving it off like it was nothing.

I ran a hand through my hair. "Oh. Well, when do you want to go?"

"Right now," he grinned.

"Right now," I copied.

"Yes. Go put on some cloths you don't care about, but make sure they're warm. Don't forget boots and maybe a hat," he ordered. I got off the couch and headed straight for the stairs.

"You know dad. Just because they wear that stuff in the movies and in catalogs doesn't mean it's mandatory," I retorted playfully.

"No back sassing me mister, get your tush up those stairs and be down in ten minutes," he smiled at me and a laughed.

"Ten minutes!? But daddy, that's not enough time!" I said, mimicking Alice. We both burst into laughter and Alice just glared at us both.

"Just leave already, me and mom need our woman time," Alice hissed. I rolled my eyes and went upstairs.

**~*~**

"I'm bored," I sighed, and sinked my chin into my palm.

"It is rather boring, huh?" Carlisle asked with a smile, I nodded my head.

"I think we should stick to travelling and watching movies, what do you say?" he asked me.

"Oh yeah," I said theatrically.

"Should we pack up and head home to the girls?"h asked.

"Ew. Can we get food first?" I asked as I heaved myself out of the chair.

"My stomach is about to eat me if I don't feed it," Carlisle spoke as I walked past him to grab my jacket.

"Gah. It might eat me too," I said as I heard a loud growl from his stomach.

"That wasn't me," Carlisle replied in a worried tone. I glanced at him, his blue eyes stained with panic.

"Was that a bear?" I asked as the growling noise continued. Carlisle opened his mouth to speak but instead a loud gunshot echoed through the small meadow where the river ran through.

"What was that?" I asked, clearly knowing exactly what it was.

"A shotgun. Must be a hunter," Carlisle said, relief hanging onto each of his words.

But soon after a loud, rough scream was heard, making me and Carlisle stiffen in fear.

"I don't think the hunter is hunting dad," I whispered.

"Me either," he spoke. Carlisle and I stared off into the woods, looking for life of any kind.

_Boom. Boom. Help! Grah!_

"Dad…" I began in a frightened tone.

"I know," he whispered. "Let's go." I reached down to pick up our things but Carlisle stopped me.

"Forget it. We need to get to the police station," Carlisle spoke.

I started for the trail, realizing that it entered where the noise was heard.

"Dad…" I began once more.

"Run," Carlisle stated. He and I began into the deep parts of the woods, following the trail. My foot got caught in a brush of sticks, causing me to fall.

"Edward, get up," Carlisle spoke, running past me.

"Dad!" I whispered loudly, he stopped running and turned around. He bent down and began trying to force me up.

"Edward, come on."

"Dad, look," I pointed to the object that had me frozen in place. Carlisle looked and pulled at me harder.

"Son, we need to go now!" he growled. I continued to stare at the dismembered head, realizing who the man was.

Chief Swan.

His skin was patched with blood, his features ripped off. The mustache he had for years remained though, and I could never forget that shade of brown. As I got up on my feet, something else caught my attention.

My jacket. The jacket I had lent Bella. It was on the ground, parts of it shredded and placed in random spots.

Carlisle tugged on my arm, but once again I was locked in place.

Bella. She was out there, somewhere.

"Edward. We don't have time for this, we need to get help now," Carlisle huffed.

I shook my head, tears falling free. Carlisle's face blocked my vision.

His terrified blue eyes stared deep into mine, his own tears building up.

"Son, we need to leave. Think about your mother, think about Alice," he said softly.

But I couldn't. They were home, safe. Bella was here, not safe.

"Dad," I croaked, sobs escaping.

"Think about Chief Swan's daughter. She'll want to know, she deserves to know," he said, making more tears fall from me.

"She's here," I stated.

"What?" He asked, more panicked.

"She's here dad. Somewhere," I closed my eyes, picturing her. When I opened them Carlisle's eyes weren't on me anymore, instead they were behind me. His eyes were wide and his tears falling over.

"Da-" he cut me off.

"I love you, Edward. Tell Esme and Alice that too, for me," he pleaded.

"Dad, what's going on?" I asked.

A deep growling noise was heard directly behind me.

**

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**A/N -** Last chapter was an epic fail! I hope this one wets your whistle. I feel at home with Bella, even though I hate her stinking guts. Good thing she's like a sister I suppose.

Bella + Angst = Happy Brittany Pants. Do you see why it's turned to M? Gore. That's why. Plenty more of that, and a lemon (maybe)....genre is horror and romance after all.

I am sad to say that me/this story is going on Hiatus. I want to get familiar with the way online school works and how much time it will take up. I hope that it won't be too long of a break but right now it has to be.

The cliffhanger was mean, even meaner because I won't update for awhile :D Bahaha. I am a bully.

I'll update when I can :D


	9. Where The Nightmares Become Reality

**Where The Nightmares Become Reality**

**Alice's Point of View**

Jasper's glorious, bright blue eyes continued to stare into mine, even though I was looking down from the embarrassment.

"What?" I asked, looking up again at him, only to look back down at his beautiful stare.

"You're amazing," he whispered, pulling my face up towards him. I smiled and stared at him, memorizing his face. He had a tiny scar on the corner of his lip - it was cute and hardly noticeable. He had another scar that started in his right eyebrow and slowly peeked through.

"_You're_ amazing," I retorted. He sighed and frowned, looking away from me.

"What?" I asked, letting myself run my fingers in his blonde shag.

"Alice. I'm trying to tell you something, but you're not listening," he said, pulling my hand away and bringing it to his face. He stared at me deeply and darkly, it made a sudden weight tug at my stomach.

"What's wrong Jasper? Are you...breaking up with me?" It was the only assumption that I could come up with. Why else would Jasper be like this? He was so dark and gloomy, as if someone he knew had just died. He was being anything but himself and it had me worried sick. I felt liquid pool in my eyes.

"Why are you crying?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

"I'm not." I wasn't. Yet.

"Well, it sure looks like it. What are you thinking?" he spoke, flipping on his back, pulling me onto his chest. I stared at his face as he looked up at my ceiling.

"Do you want the truth?" I asked, holding back the tears that were begging for release.

"Always," he replied. His head rolled down to me, his lips twitched in a small smile.

"I'm thinking that it's too soon for us to be apart. I'm thinking that I want so much more in life with you. I love you, Jasper. I care about you so much and I don't want you to leave me, ever." By now the tears were free and falling fast. Jasper stared at me the whole time, a blank expression on his face. His hand came up to my face, his callused fingers wiped away my tears.

"Do you really think that I'm going to break up with you?" he asked, that dark and gloomy demeanor returning.

"I don't know...I don't know how this works. I've never had a boyfriend before," I admitted.

"I've only had two other girlfriends," he replied.

"Who?" I asked, more tears building as I thought of the possibility of him being in love with someone but me.

"Tanya and Kate," he stated.

"The Denali sisters?" I asked. He nodded his head. Tanya and Kate were seniors in our school. They were close family friends in a way, but they and I had never gotten along; mostly because I was younger and Edward was cuter.

"Yeah, Edward and I went down to their house out of boredom, before I knew it we were all...flirting and teasing. Kate and I became a couple that day, we spent the whole summer together. I think you were at camp or with your aunt in California. Kate was an awesome girl. She was very tom boyish and liked to do the stuff me and your brother liked to do. Tanya was trying her hardest to make Edward and her an item, but you know Edward." He looked at me and smiled. I nodded my head and waited for him to continue.

"Well, a few weeks later me and Kate split because we just didn't have that spark. It was like we were friends, nothing more. I remember I was walking home from their house and I heard a girl crying. I was worried and ran to girl, only to realize it was Tanya. She just kept hating on herself; saying how ugly she was and how much guys hate her. I asked what had happened and I guess Edward told her off. One thing led to another, and then Tanya and I were making out." I was pretty sure Jasper felt me stiffen in his arms.

"We didn't do anything but make out," he quickly stated. I relaxed a bit more.

"We went out, a few dates during the last days of summer. When her and sister were sent to that boarding school in Alaska, well...we never split up."

"What!?" I gasped.

"I was going to tell you..but I wasn't sure if what we would last," he muttered.

I sat straight up and out of his arms. "Jasper. We've only been together for a few weeks! How could you not say anything to me? Oh my God."

"What?" he asked, sitting beside me.

"I'm the other woman now, Jasper." I slapped him hard on his shoulder. He shouted a 'hey' and rubbed his shoulder.

"I hate you!" I screamed. I climbed out of my bed and headed for the door. Jasper was faster than me. He had his hand around my arm and was pulling me back towards him.

"You didn't let me finish," he said. I turned and stared at him, crossing my arms.

"What?" I spoke with acid.

"I planned on telling you, and in fact I was thinking when and how I said it-"

I cut him off. "How about Alice…I'm cheating on Tanya with you." He glared at me.

"And as I was thinking it over I was struck with this sudden thought, this sudden feeling." He captured my hands in his, he pulled me closer. His wide, blue eyes stared deeply into mine, his mouth hung open in awe.

"What?" I asked in a quiet tone.

"Alice. I love you," he said.

I opened my mouth to speak but another voice beat me to it.

"ESME! MOM!! ALICE!!" The voice was unfamiliar, I stiffened.

"That's Edward," Jasper breathed, his eyes full of panic.

"How do you know?" I asked, almost in shock.

"He's my best friend. I've seen him in situations that would kill you." He looked at me, his eyes pained and wet.

"MOM!" Edward's voice was horrible. Clearly he was crying, sobbing. He sounded in pain and confused and scared. It was a horrible thing to hear. "MOM! ALICE! SOMEONE! PLEASE!"

Jasper and I ran out my door and down the stairs. Jasper beat me by a mile stone but stopped dead in his tracks. As I made it down the last step, I saw Edward. He was shaking. His cloths were covered in red - blood. His green eyes were dull and dark, scared and wet. His hair was matted with blood and dirt, leaves stuck in it.

"Edward," I gasped. "What happened?"

Edward stared at me, fresh tears fell from his face and he continued to cry. I made an attempt to go comfort him, but Jasper stopped me.

"He lied," Edward spoke through his heartbreaking sobs.

"Who lied?" - "Where's dad?" Jasper and I spoke at the same time, causing harsher cries from Edward.

"It wasn't a bear," Edward muttered, dropping to the ground.

"What are you talking about?" Jasper asked, taking hesitant steps towards my terrified brother. I held onto Jasper, as if I was in a haunted house and was using Jasper as a security blanket.

"Dad told me it was a bear, it wasn't. It was something else, something smarter," Edward whimpered through every word, reliving those moments.

"Alice! I'm home, is your father and Edward back?" Esme's cheery voice wandered into the living room. Her heels clunked against the wood floors. Her body made it into the living room, the first thing she noticed was me clutching to Jasper, a smile on her face. But then she noticed our tears and looked down at her adopted son.

"Edward!?" she screamed, he flinched and began crying loudly. Our mother collapsed onto the floor beside him and wrapped her arms around my shaky brother. For a minute we all cried in sync, as a family. But one member was missing.

"Edward? Where's dad?" I asked and Edward let out a deep breath.

"Dead."

--

"How's he doing?" I asked Jasper as he walked out of my brother's room and closed the door.

"Not good. I'm really worried," Jasper spoke as his hand gathered in mine. He turned and looked at me, giving me an awkward smile. "Did you get a hold of Chief Swan?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. No one will pick up at his house or at the station, it's really crazy."

"Maybe I should go drive by and tell someone," Jasper stated, a mischief look in his eyes.

"You're not thinking about looking for my dad are you!?" I blurted.

"Someone has to. He may not be dead…maybe he's just passed out. He needs medical help Alice. We can't just sit around and hope someone picks up the phone."

"Nobody is going anywhere!" Esme spoke as she walked out of the bathroom.

"But, mom. Dad. He might still be alive!" I explained.

"_Might!_ Alice I can't risk anyone going after him, it's too dangerous. I've lost my husband and I'm not going to lose my children."

"Mom. Don't you care at all about dad!? What if he's still alive and _dying_."

"He's not," Edward's rough voice spoke. We turned to him to see his head popping out of a small opening from his door.

"I held him in my arms. I held him as he said his goodbyes, as he told me things that I wasn't suppose to hear years from now. He's dead. And unless you're suicidal Alice...Jasper...don't go looking for his body. The thing probably ate it and won't stop to hear your pleas." And with that Edward closed the door. Esme's cries pulled me away from my sullen brother. I sighed and walked toward my petite mother, wrapping my own small arms around her.

The phone rang. I pulled away from my mother answer it. I pressed the talk button and brought it to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Cullen's body is outside the Caillou cave. Bella's fine." A deep, manly voice spoke then hung up, leaving me speechless and a little frightened. I hung up the phone and returned to the small hallway convention.

"Who was it?" Emse asked as she wiped her last tears away.

"I don't know. But dad's body is outside that one cave we go to every summer," I stated.

"That's pretty far from where the two were. I think it would be safe to go, but we'll need and ambulance. Alice, call 911, Jasper you can come with me." Esme commanded.

"Can I come?" I asked.

"Someone needs to be here with your brother," she spoke as she started for the stairs. Jasper trailed behind her.

"Right," I spoke. I watched the two of them grab their jackets and walk out the door.

"Jasper!" I called out, he looked up at me.

"I love you too," I said to him. He smiled and walked out the door, closing it behind him. I grabbed the phone and punched in numbers I never dialed before.

_Ring. Ring._

"911, state your emergency please."

**

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**A/N -** I apologize for that mean cliffhanger. This may not make up for it but it's a start.

I don't do much of APOV..but I got this idea in my head and deleted something I had written instead. Sorry for the short chapter, but that's what I do. Anyhoo.  
Thanks to the new readers who left reviews. That was super nice.

Hope you liked it! Not sure when the next chapter will be but this story is off hiatus so it can be at any time.


	10. Where The Darkness Controls Light

**Where The Darkness Controls Light**

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Use Forks To Eat - Not Hands

That's right people. Eat. As in, "I'm hungry, let's go eat." It seems that not only the nasty homicides are going on here in Seattle, they've now reached the small town of Forks. Many have recently been murdered. A chief police officer, a doctor, a young boy, and now it seems that a young girl has gone missing. Bodies were only found of the two older men and the boy had died a few weeks back. There are no remains of this girl and it is now being called a kidnap since the searches have came up empty handed. On the remains of the doctor, as sources tell us, were bite marks. It seems something was eating the poor man. Whatever is out there is cannibal and evil. Parents. Lock up your children and grab your pitchforks for safe keeping. There's something out there and will not give mercy. If someone goes missing, don't wait around for them to return, get help immediately. This isn't some sick game teenagers are trying to pull, nor is it just a patient from the loony bin. There is a maniac on the loose and he will kill you and possibly eat you. What we need is a hero. _Psst...Hercules! That's your cue!_ Nothing? No one? Looks like I'm going to hide under this rock. May God be with us in this unruly, disturbing time.

_December 18th, 2009_  
Emily Young; Seattle Sanctum

* * *

I sighed and crumbled up the article, wishing that it was the journalist who would get eaten. I stuffed the newspaper under my pillow and turned on my side. My room was dark, mostly because I had a large blanket over my window. But that's all anything ever was.

Dark.

Ever since my father's death that's how I saw everything. Something grey and cloudy covered up my vision. Tones came out sullen and shallow. I could hardly have a positive thought about anything. Darkness was all I knew, all I felt, all I could breathe. I was absorbed by its friendly satire that I couldn't realize the hurt it caused. It harmed anyone who came close to it, especially me. It was a parasite, a leech; sucking the life from me to gain strength.

I couldn't fight back.

I didn't want to fight back.

This darkness...this depression was a disease and even if I tried too, I couldn't beat it. I knew I had hope, but what was hope without faith? My father - my hero was gone.

Forever.

When it came time for my father's funeral, I was reluctant to not go. I had already said my goodbyes. I didn't want to do it again. But Esme...my loving, broken mother was desperate to have me by her side. She needed someone strong and someone to get mad at. I was the perfect person for her. However, I wasn't strong. I was dealing with my own pain of my deceased father.

It was unfair. I had already lost one father, I couldn't handle losing another.

But I still went to the funeral. I held Esme's hand as she cried, Alice's too. I kept my own tears back as I wiped away my mothers. I said goodbye to Carlisle once again.

That was one of the most difficult days of my life.

Scratch that.

_The _most difficult day.

_"Do you believe in God?" Alice questioned Jasper in the backseat of Esme's car. We were on our way to the funeral. I had thrown a fit, ruined my suits and even attempted to pop holes in the tire to stop from going. No matter what I did. Esme won. _

_I would only go for her._

_Only her._

_I promised._

_Jasper spoke then, "No."_

_"Why not?" my sister questioned like a small child. I turned to see and hear his answer. His eyes met mine._

_"Because, no one with a cold heart and black soul deserves to have control over us," he spoke with clenched teeth and hard eyes._

_"But," I began. "Don't you think that it's only fair that horrible creatures like us deserve to be punished by someone just as horrible?"_

_Jasper chuckled. "Are we all so horrible that we do deserve it? Think about it, Edward. We are all in a game. None of us have a chance to win. Just like Ben, just like Charlie Swan, and just like your father."_

I sighed and rolled over on my large, cold bed. I hated how right Jasper was. He always was. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for sleep to succumb, but it never did. I had the worst case of insomnia, mostly because when I did sleep I saw my father die over and over again. The bad thing about this nightmare is that it's real. I tried to get away from it but it made itself home in my life. It was an unwanted guest; it was an enemy I wanted to seriously kill.

Misery does love company I suppose.

All this depression is probably ten times worse because of Bella.

No one's heard from her since that god-awful day. No one's found any traces of her. Bella is gone.

It's a hard thing to comprehend. The first girl who I have practically fallen in love with was missing, for who knows how long. She could even be dead. That beast, the creature with the dark skin and even darker eyes, probably go to her.

Just like it got my father.

That was another thing that kept me locked up in darkness, mentally and physically.

That creature.

It was unlike anything I've seen before. It was large and stood on its hind legs like a bear, even though it was nothing like the mammal. It had large teeth, canine and very sharp. The beast growled as he sunk his teeth into Carlisle. My father screamed, called out and even reached for me. But I was frozen. In shock. The large beast stared at me as he attempted to pull of Carlisle's arm from his bleeding shoulder. The creature used it's claws to press into Carlisle's back and tear of my father's left limb.

_"Take care of Esme,"_ Carlisle pleaded to me. I shook my head. It wasn't my responsibility to take care of her. She wasn't my wife. It was Carlisle's job.

_"Son. Please....I love you."_ Carlisle's voice was choking on blood. I watch the red seep from his quivering lips and touch the dirt below his head. His hazy blue eyes stared at me, still begging. I let a sob escape as I knew that this was it. That it was the end.

_"I will. I promise. I love you."_ I repeated those over like a mantra as the beast continued to torture my father, with a final goodbye, I ran.

I couldn't get away without hurting myself. The tears made my eyes blurry; I tripped endlessly over sticks, rocks and anything that could manage me to get cut up. I ran until I made my way home.

I just wish that it was me instead of Carlisle.

Me instead of Chief Swan.

Me instead of Bella.

--

Something was in my room. Something was beside me. Something was breathing on the back of my neck. I let my eyes burst open and I quickly jumped from my bed and to the other side of my dim room. My chest heaved up and down as I searched for the thing that quietly crept upon me.

"Jeeze, Edward. Relax," Alice's mousey voice spoke from my bed. I spotted the small girl lounging on the only thing that felt safe.

But she had to go and ruin that too, huh?

"What do you want?" I asked rudely, staying beside the wall.

"Me, Jasper, Emmett and Rose are all going out to Jasper's Grandpa's cabin. You want to come?"

I mentally laughed. Was she that blind? "Of course not."

"And why not!?" she asked, matching my earlier tone.

"Alice. Why would I want to go out? Why would I want to hang out with anyone? Clearly, I want to be alone." I spoke as I walked to my bed, motioning for her to get off with my head. She humphed and crawled off as I crawled in.

"Edward. You can't do this. You have to get out! You have to do something!" she shouted.

"I. Am. Not. Leaving," I said to hear slowly and clearly.

A loud pounding on my door made me jump.

"Hey! Cullen! Get your ass out of that bed and come hang out with your best friends!" Emmett's booming voice said from the opposite side of my door.

_I'm not going_, I mouthed to Alice.

_Yes, you are_, she mouthed back.

I shook my head and pulled my sheets over my head, squeezing my eyes and wishing she'd disappear. To my surprise, she did. I heard my door open and click shut. I peeked a little; making sure it wasn't a trick.

She was gone.

I let out a sigh of relief.

A knock came back on my door and it opened suddenly. Alice scrutinized my sudden jump and squeal.

"I love you, Edward." And with that she shut the door and I let my heart get back to its normal pace once more.

I snuggled into the warmth of my bed and let my eyes close over; sleep was the only thing I did, even though I always knew the consequence of it. A different type of darkness took over with matching warmth, but that warmth turned into coldness quickly.

_"Carlisle!" I called out again. I continued to follow the blood stained path that led to the sound of a raging river. I made my way to the dark waters and peered around me for sign of life._

_Nothing but nothing._

_Like always._

_"Bella!" I shouted, cupping my hands around my mouth. "Bella!"_

_Still, through this quiet isolation feeling, I knew there was something out there. I daringly crossed the river, feeling the coldness drape over my body. Splashes of water touched my face, causing me to gasp and a hazy flash burst in front of my eyes._

_I shut them tightly and opened them, seeing the familiar beastly body on the side of the river I was aiming to. Its mouth was covered in blood. I let my eyes wander where the drops fell. In front of the creature lay a girl. Her brown hair cascaded around her like a glorious waterfall. Her eyes stared up at the monster in fear. Her chest moved up and down quickly._

_Her scream was cut off by the beast._

_I became too cold. The water became too wet._

Something freezing and drenched in water was gripping my body tightly.

**

* * *

**

**A/N **- A very filler chapter with a cliffhanger. I am evil (_Every Villian Is Lemons_ - know where that's from?). But don't worry. Drama, Fights, Kissing, and much more ahead ;D  
Thanks for the support gals. We're almost to 200 hundred reviews! Whoop!

**Previews for Ch. 11 for those who review ;D**


	11. Where The Roses Have Thorns

**Where The Roses Have Thorns**

I stiffened and clamped my mouth from screaming. I shut my eyes and tried wishing for something again. But this time, it didn't come true.

A hand brushed through my hair while the other snaked around my waist and hugged me.

I relaxed some.

I let my body feel the contours of the one beside me. From what I could feel, it was a girl. I rolled my head slightly and looked back.

A large set of doe-eyes stared at me, a smooth smile curved on a set of glossy lips. Dark hair was tangled and wet. The body was freezing and clearly drenched in water.

"Hi, Edward," yhe voice whispered softly and child-like. I'd know that voice anywhere.

"Rosalie!?" I shot straight up and turned my body to face her. "What are you doing here?" I took another glance at her. She was shivering. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms pulling them in tighter. Her glossy lip was a shade of purple and quivered as I continued my exam.

"Rose?" I asked while watching a large tremor rush through her bodies.

"I-I wanted to-to see you," she spoke, her voice trembling. I felt a cold breeze brush past me and I shivered myself. I looked behind me to see the window wide open and the small flakes of snow dropping down. I crawled out of my bed and crossed my arms across my bare chest as I made my way to the window. I looked out the large window. I could see that white covered everything. The snow had a glow on it from the moon that was seeping out of the clouds.

It was freezing. I shut the window quickly and pulled the blanket back over.

Then I realized that Rosalie must have been out there.

"Why are you wet?" I asked in a small panicked tone.

"I fell in-in-in the pond out ba-back."

"Shit," I muttered and I ran past the bed and into the bathroom. I flipped the light on and shoved the plug into the bathtub and hit the hot tab. I ran back for Rosalie. I pulled onto her feet and she staggered into my arms. Her warm breath splashed across my face and I caught the hint of alcohol. I ignored it and lead to the bathroom.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked in a shocked manor.

"Rose. You're going to get hypothermia if you don't get warmed up." _The knowledge of being the son of a doctor._ She could only shake her head and start to walk back out of the bathroom. I grabbed her, and pulled her back towards the tub that was quickly filling up.

"I don't want to," she whined.

"Why not?" I asked, letting go of her.

"I'm sc-scared," she stated.

"Of what? Two feet of water?" I asked in a confused tone.

"Being alone," she whispered. I stared at the shivering blonde. Her eyes were damp and her lips continued to quiver and her body shook.

I sighed. "Fine, I'll get in with you." I reached for her hands and pulled her near the tub as I stepped in. I winced at the heat and let go of her hands. I sunk down and looked back up at her. She had her lip caught in her teeth.

"Well?" I asked.

Rosalie's hands tugged at her shirt and she lifted it up and over her head.

"What are you doing?" I asked in gasp.

She dropped the shirt and un-did her jeans. She slipped them off, leaving her in just her bra and panties. I quickly stood up and out of the water, about to protest what was going to happen. She knew it too.

Rosalie lunged towards me, pushing me down into the water with her.

"Rose!" I shouted as water splashed over the edge of the tub.

Rosalie's body covered mine, including her lips. I tired pushing her off but she was beating me. I wriggled beneath her, trying my hardest to stop what she was doing. Rosalie's lips moved on top of mine but once she realized I wasn't responding she pulled away.

She took in my frightened expression and frowned, her blue eyes getting wet again.

"I'm sorry," she spoke. Her body moved to the other side of the tub and she turned the water off. I pulled myself up right and wiped my lips with the back of my hand.

"Rosalie. I thought we talked about this."

"I know."

I sighed. "Want to talk about it?" She shook her head and pulled her knees up to her chest. Her chin rested on them and she averted her eyes to the side of the bathtub. A single crystal tear fell from her eyes and landed in the suds surrounding us.

I began the interrogations.

"Are you drunk?" That was my first. After getting a whiff of her breath it locked my thoughts on the fact that she may be intoxicated and be doing things she wouldn't usually do, even though this wasn't the first time.

"I had a few shots," she muttered.

"Did you get in a fight with Emmett again?" Another reason why she may be like this. I felt like a bad cop trying to be a good cop.

"No." It came out as a cry. I looked at her more closely. Her eyes were red and puffy. She was no longer suffering from the cold but still trembling, mostly from her muted sobs.

"Rose?" I called out to her, concern flooding my voice. She peeked at me timidly. I pushed myself towards her more, the tub water swishing around. I slowly, cautiously wrapped my arms around. Not only were her knees pressing against her chest but they were mine. They created a barrier between us. A much needed one at that. I continued to bring my arms around her peach toned body. Her sobs seemed to grow deeper in her chest as more of my bare skin touched hers.

"Don't!" she hissed, pulling away.

I scooted back to my spot, shifting my eyes to the white bubbles.

"Edward. Are doctors ever wrong?" she asked, looking at me with fresh tears in her eyes.

I winced mentally. "Sometimes," I said to her. "Why?"

She clucked her tongue and pressed her legs down into the water. I adverted my eyes away from her yellow bra.

I'm a guy.

"You remember that one night?" she asked. Of course I did.

"What about it?"

"Well. I went to the doctors again yesterday. Turns out that I _can_ have kids."

"Really!? That's great!" I stated with enthusiasm. Rosalie wasn't enthused or amused.

She pursed her lips, "It would be great years from now."

I felt my eyebrows come together. I felt the deep dimple in my forehead. My eyes narrowed. I thought those words over. Not just once, not just twice. By the fifth time my eyes were going wide.

"You're kidding!" I gasped.

She stared deadly at me.

I shook my head in denial, this couldn't be possible.

"How?" that was the only word I could choke out. I was still in shock.

She shrugged her shoulders and nibbled on the inside of her cheek. "It happened last month, maybe the month before - I don't remember. I wasn't having my period. In fact I hadn't had it in a few months. I figured I was infertile even before the doctors confirmed it. So me and Em...you know...without a condom. Anyways. After the said that I couldn't have kids I guess all my hopes and dreams about having a big family were confirmed."

"But?" I added.

"But...I'm guessing that the doctors were wrong." She brought her hands to her stomach and gently pressed them against it. Rosalie started down at her flat stomach, gazing in disbelief.

"Wow. Does Emmett know?" I asked her, she shook her head.

"No one knows," she said in a harsh tone. Her eyes were locked on me, a serious gleam in her eyes.

"Knows what?" I questioned with a smirk. She grinned back, only briefly though. Then she sighed and the tears formed in her eyes.

"I don't know what to do," she admitted.

"Do you plan on keeping it..him..her?" I couldn't find the best noun to use. I wasn't sure how Rosalie felt about having a child.

"That's the thing I don't know," she stared at me in panic. "I'm only sixteen. I shouldn't be having a kid. And you know how much my parents would freak!" I nodded my head. They would.

"But," she continued, "I can't just not keep it, you know? This is a living, breathing thing."

"What about adoption?"

She sighed and snickered. "I can't do that. I can't have my child in a home with different parents, parents who may treat her like shit. I just can't let my child grow up and be some sort of misfit who gets kicked out of school after school."

My jaw began to clench.

"What if they never tell her that I'm her mother? She could go her whole life living a lie. Adoption would be the worst thing I could do to her and not to mention -"

"I'm adopted," I suddenly said. "Alice too."

Rosalie stared up at me in embarrassment and regret.

"We're not your stereotypical adopted kids. None of us usually are. The worst thing you could do for your child? Not telling Emmett the truth. Now. If you don't mind, I'm turning into an old man." I stood straight up and walked out of the bathwater, reaching for a towel. I wiped my pruning skin and walked out of my room.

"Sorry," I heard Rosalie mutter. I rolled my eyes and slipped out of my wet sweats. I grabbed another pair, black, and climbed into my bed, wincing at the dampness. I didn't care. I just wanted to continue to be a part of the black abyss that had absorbed most my feelings.

Numbness.

That's all I wanted.

Eventually I got it too, but I woke up to the feeling of weight being added to my bed. I looked over my shoulder groggily to see Rosalie climbing in and under the covers. I think she must have thought that I was still asleep because the next words that came out of her mouth had me locked in a sudden panic and shock.

"I love you, Edward."

--

I woke up different, new. I could feel my heart beating beneath my chest. I could breathe clearly and better, but it wasn't a feeling I liked. I didn't like to feel my heart, I didn't like to feel my lungs work as they took in air. We weren't meant to feel our organs work inside our body, and if we were we simply didn't realize that we could.

It was a bizarre feeling.

I might not have felt comfortable being to feel them, but they made me feel something entirely different.

Something I was desperate to feel.

An emotion that I thought was gone.

It wasn't happiness and it wasn't joy. But it was close enough.

Peace.

Peace, I think it was.

I opened my eyes to see Rosalie's pouty lips near my face. She was soundly asleep, if you ignored the tiny snore that erupted from her chest. Her lazy curls surround most the area around her. My blue comforter came up to her waist. She was wearing a black t-shirt that would be a large dress for any skinny girl like Rosalie. But it wasn't my shirt. In fact, I wasn't sure whose it was. My only guess was that it was Emmett's or Carlisle's.

I stared at Rosalie a little more.

Her pink lips, always a rosy shade, hung open. I could see the tips of her white teeth.

Rosalie was an attractive girl.

But....she wasn't Bella.

Rosalie and I would never be.

And I'm not sure if that makes me upset or not.

The feeling I was feeling was one of bliss, I was in state where nothing touched me. I was comfortably numb. Nothing could penetrate the shield around me that kept me off the ledge of depression and heart ache.

I, Edward Cullen, was no longer in mourning. My father was dead, and I would move on. I had too.

It was my only choice.

I quietly and slowly climbed out my bed. I tip toed to the door and opened it, wincing at the creaking noise it made. I shut the door and walked down the hall at normal pace, stopping at the bathroom. I had a set of extra cloths in the closet for emergencies, accidents. Something like this.

After I jumped out of the shower I slipped my cloths on - a pair of jeans and a yellow t-shirt - I finished up my morning ritual. I walked out of the bathroom and sauntered down the stairs. I headed straight for the kitchen, my stomach growling in anticipation.

I had usually only ate one meal a day, when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, usually crackers and a sandwich. But this morning was different. I was craving things that I wasn't a fan of. The smell hit me before the sight.

The scent of pancakes and omelets caked my nose, making my mouth water and pant. I stepped around the corner and walked into the kitchen, seeing my mother for the first time in a month. Her dark brown hair was swept up in a hair clip, causing normal curls to fold over and bounce with her step. She wore a dress - nothing fancy; it was a pink, almost matching Rosalie's lip color. The sleeves came down to her mid-arm and the length stopped just at her knees. Underneath she wore a pair of black tights and a pair of black heels.

She looked beautiful.

Had Esme always been this pretty?

I never noticed.

She turned and spotted me, her brown eyes went wide.

"Edward?" She seemed almost shocked to see me. I smiled a grim line and nodded. She stood their dumbfounded for a moment or so, a frying pan in her hands and a spatula in another. I slowly made my way to a seat near the counter table top. She watched me move, as if waiting for me to burst into flames.

"What's for breakfast?" I asked casually.

"Erm," she began. "Pancakes, eggs, hash-browns, sausage -"

"So everything we own?" I cut in jokingly. She smiled but it wasn't right, she was still battling with shock. She turned her back and flipped off the switches on the stove. She made me a plate then some for herself, but of course her portion was smaller than mine.

Together we ate in silence. I went from looking at my food, to her and then back. She did the same. I turned my eyes to the pile of food behind her on the counter beside the stove. There was a lot of food left over.

"So..did you know I was going to eat this morning?" I asked.

"I had no clue," she replied in a small tone.

"You made a lot," I noted, pointing to the food behind her with my fork. She looked back quickly and glanced at me.

She nodded her head. "I know."

Then she said in a quiet voice that I would have missed if I scrapped my utensils against the plate, "Old habit." I chewed quietly to myself and looked away, not wanting to see the pain in her eyes.

It was like this for the whole meal. Neither of us spoke again. Esme pushed away from the counter table-top. I could hear her heels tread across one side of the kitchen to the other. I listened to her rinse of her plate and come back. I looked up at her to see her digging around for plastic containers. She began dumping the food into them.

The silence was uncomfortable, maddening, I couldn't stand it.

"What's on the agenda today?" I asked.

Esme let out a sigh-like cough."I have some errands to run."

"Can I come?" I wasn't even sure if I wanted to go. Something just told me to do it.

Once again my mother entered her shocked like state. She stared at me, eyeing me closely. It almost felt as if she was invading my privacy.

"Sure. If you want." I nodded my head and carried my empty plate to the sink. I rinsed it off and turned back at her; she was sticking the full containers in the fridge.

"When are we going?" I asked, eager to get out.

"Right now, I guess."

"Let me get grab a jacket," I spoke. I walked into the living room and pulled out a jacket from the closet. It was a black zip-up hoodie. It was a little small and made me feel like one of those scene kids, but it was cozy. Cozy was something I was living for at the moment.

Esme grabbed her coat from the closet and I shut it.

Together we left the house and a small part inside of me hoped that we'd both return.

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**A/N **- Another form of filler chapter. But, now we see Edward is over his father. And I brought back the Rosalie/Edward conflict. But this time it wasn't for me, it was for Edward. Yessum.


	12. Where The Secrets Become Gossip

**Where The Secrets Become Gossip**

I sat beside Esme in the car, it was almost awkward. Both of us were silent as we listened to a radio station that we both found to our mutual liking. However, the music didn't feel the void of the silence that seemed to attach itself to everything around it. I coughed, making everything else feel five times more bizarre. I stared out the window, gazing up at the grey clouds the produced the snow that never seemed to let up.

"How's school?" Esme asked. I turned to look at her, my eyes narrowed.

"You should know. I haven't gone in almost a month," I replied in a snarky tone.

She nodded her head. "That's right. I should probably ground you."

I chuckled. She turned and looked at me.

"Feel free to ground me mom. I wouldn't be going anywhere even if I wasn't," I stated. She nodded her head.

"You're right. Maybe I should force you out of the house."

I kept my eyes locked on her, my horrid expression frozen.

"I wouldn't do that to you. We all need some time to move on. But you are going back to school."

I sighed. "Okay."

Esme continued her long drive into the city and the silence crawled back. I let my forehead rest against the cold glass and I concentrated on the music playing from the stereo. I wondered where we were going. We stopped at the post office and Esme sent a package to my grandparents in Chicago, I wrote a hello on the card. After that we stopped at a gas station and picked up some snacks, mostly green tea and a few bags of chips. I had downed mine before we were out of Forks. I still had no clue why we were going to Seattle. Probably to Esme's work.

My mother worked as a therapist; she counseled families, teenage mothers, drug addicts, rape victims. My mother dealt with many types of people. She was a strong woman, even when the love of her life was taken she tried to stay strong. Sometimes she failed but most the time she was being brave for Alice and I. Esme was a wonderful person, she didn't deserve the death of my father. I sighed and shook my head; I didn't want to think about it anymore.

An hour later Esme pulled up to the building where she worked at. It was large and fancy, brand new. They had spent forever fixing it up and they had only finished a few months ago. I followed Esme out of her car and into the building, glad that I didn't have stay in the car. My butt was starting to cramp. Esme walked quickly through building, saying hello to the people she passed. Some of them eyed me, curious. Some looked worried as I followed my mother into the elevator and out; it didn't help that me and her didn't speak or even look at each. We continued onward until we reached the 9th floor, Esme stepped out of the elevator and headed for large circular desk. She turned and looked back at me.

"Why don't you take a seat, I have to do some things." She pointed to a small sitting room just beside an office door that read her name. I nodded my head and sat in one of the hard chairs. Esme spoke to the woman at the desk intently; I sighed and reached for a magazine. I was shocked to see it. It was a 'People' magazine and new, unlike what you get at other places. At the doctors you're forced to read old 'Readers Digest' or 'National Geographic' with the pages torn. It made me wish that hospitals and dentists offices included libraries.

A woman walked past me as I skipped through the pages, ignoring the ridiculous rumors about all the celebrities out there. I glanced at the woman nonchalantly, nothing special about it. That was until her expression had me doing a double take. She looked...horrible. As if she had watched someone die right before her eyes. Her hazel orbs stared sadly and frightened all around her. Her mouth was set in a deep frown. She looked as if she was about to cry.

She was an older woman, early thirties as I could assume. She had an innocent face and vulnerable features. Her light brown hair was tousled around her shoulders, as if she'd been caught in the wind. She wore a casual outfit, jeans and white blouse. Her hands gripped her purse, almost wringing it. Her sad, wandering eyes looked at me. They narrowed and I looked away.

Esme's heels clicked over, I looked up at her and she smiled at me. She turned to the woman.

"Renee Dwyer?" she asked. The woman looked up and nodded her head.

"You've come a long way from Phoenix. I didn't think I was that great of a therapist," my mother joked.

The woman smiled lightly but clearly she was too sad. Esme noticed.

"Why don't we go into my office?" she asked.

The woman smiled shyly. "I think he was here before me." Esme followed the woman's arm who was pointing at me.

"He's just my son."

"Oh." The woman seemed shocked.

"I also have a daughter," Esme stated.

"I have a daughter too." The woman looked like she was about to cry.

"Right, Isabella. I'm so sorry," Esme said softly. Isabella. It made me think about Bella. Bella made me think of Carlisle. Fuck. I hated getting thoughts about Carlisle and Bella. It only made me sad. After my month of mourning, I was sick of being blue. That's why I was trying to reconnect with the woman who had raised me most my life.

"That's why I came here. I heard that you were the best when it came to mothering." The woman Renee spoke and stood up. Esme smiled at placed her hand on Renee's back. She led the woman to her office door. I sighed and leaned back, closing my eyes as I prepared for the long, enduring wait.

"Edward," Esme called out. I opened my eyes and snapped my head into her direction.

"Yeah?"

Esme blinked softly. "Renee said it would be alright if you were in her session with us. Plus, it will give you a chance to try your therapeutical skills."

I snorted and stood up. "Yeah. I'd be quite the therapist wouldn't I?"

"Your sarcasm humors me," Esme retorted with a snarky smile.

"Sarcasm? I thought I was being ironic."

She let out a loud laugh. "Ironic, huh? I'll have to remember that the next time you lie to me about drinking out of the milk carton." I smiled at my mother who joyously grinned back. It had been so long since Esme and I did this. We use to joke and play, we use to be best friends. As soon as I went into middle school it stopped. I had become so concerned about friends that I forgot about the greatest friendship I ever had. Esme was there to pick up me up when my real parents had died.

I wasn't there to pick her up.

I had left her when she needed me the most.

I sighed and walked toward her. I pulled her gently into a hug and held her tightly.

"I'm so sorry mom," I whispered.

"There's nothing to apologize about," she stated.

I shook my head. "I wasn't there for you."

"And I wasn't there for _you_. Edward," she pulled back and looked at me deeply."I understand how you were feeling. I know how you're feeling now. Not only is your father gone but the love of your life is too."

"I never said she was the love of my life," I retorted.

"No. But I can see it in your eyes. She's out there Edward, waiting for the right time. She's dealing with loss too."

"I know. She and I have a lot more in common now. We've both lost a mother and a father." I pulled away from Esme and stuck my hands in my pocket.

"What do you mean?" Esme asked, her brows knitting in the middle.

"Bella's mom died a few months ago. That's why she came to forks." Esme's eyes grew wide and she flew past me and into her office. I quickly followed her, curious as to what was going on.

She was towering over Renee who was huddled into a leather couch.

"You said Isabella came here because you two weren't getting along!"

Renee looked up at my mother in shock. "I did. She came to live with her father, who's dead."

"Then why is my son telling me that your daughter said that you died?" Esme hissed.

"What!?" Renee's head snapped to me. She stood up immediately and ran to me. She took her hands into mine.

"You're Edward." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"She's told me everything about you."

"Who?"

"Isabella."

I only knew one Isabella.

"You mean, Bella?" I replied.

"She's wanted me to call her that for such a long time. I was so used to Isabella that it wouldn't stick."

"Wait. Bella's gone." I was seriously sitting in a well. I had no clue what was going on and I just had to get someone's attention.

"No, she's not. She's fine. She's staying with her God-Father."

I felt a lightning bolt of shock rush down my spine. "How do you know?"

"She told me." Renee seemed slightly weirded out by me.

"When!?" I was sure I was close to hysterics.

"About a month ago. I speak to her every day."

"So Bella's alive!?" I wasn't sure if I felt like screaming or crying.

Renee nodded her head.

"Where?"

She titled her head to the side. "Where what?"

"Where is she!?" I growled.

"La Pu-" She couldn't even finish. I was out my mother's office door and flying to the elevator. But I couldn't wait for that. As soon as I hit the button I gave up on patience and fled down the stair exit. I wasn't even sure if I was taking the stairs, I swear that I was hovering above them.

Once I was on the ground floor a sudden thought hit me like a wrecking ball.

How was I going to get to La Push?

I was in Seattle with no way out.

Like a prisoner.

Bella was alive and I needed to get to her.

I felt around in my pocket, nudging my wallet. I wasn't sure how much cash I had but I did have that credit card I never used. It was for emergencies. I thought about the situation.

This was an emergency.

--

"2459 you say?" The taxi driver asked.

"Yeah. It's that one." I pointed to my house that he was driving past. He stomped on the breaks.

"Oh, sorry." He said.

I paid my fair and jumped out of the yellow taxi. I ran straight into my house and up the stairs, determined to fetch my keys. I threw my door open and lunged for them. Then I remembered Rosalie.

I looked at my bed.

She had made it but wasn't there.

"Rosalie?" I called out.

Nothing.

I figured she went home and headed back down the stairs, not stopping until I reached my car. I quickly climbed into the Volvo and started it up, purring in sync with the motor. I waited and moment for it to heat up. As soon as my patience was gone I pulled out of the drive way and headed to the high way.

I drove wickedly fast down the slick roads, realizing how stupid I was being. I slowed down only to want to go fast again. I squeezed the steering wheel in order to keep me from pressing down hard on the gas pedal.

I'd only been to La Push five times before, mostly during the summer when we all wanted to have some fun at the beach. I usually stayed away from the small reservation. It wasn't too far away from Forks but I wished it was closer. I probably should have got more information about where exactly Bella was staying, maybe I could ask around.

After fifteen minutes of driving I was finally there. But, I wasn't sure where to go. I drove through the streets of La Push, eyeing the kids on the sidewalk and the people driving by. I had no clue where to start. It was a very small town, she couldn't be far away.

I pulled into First Beach and parked my car into the one of the spots. I turned my car off and looked around me. It was then that I saw her.

I jumped out of my car and headed down near the shore where she was standing. She had her back to me as she gazed at the harsh waves. She wore a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt but that was it. She must have been freezing.

"Bella?" I called out. She turned around.

It wasn't Bella. She looked nothing like Bella; only from behind did they resemble each other. But this girl did look familiar.

"Leah?" I asked. Bella had told me about Leah, that Leah was one of her best friends. I didn't believe Bella though; she had a grimace on her face that told me otherwise.

"Yeah, who wants to know?" the girl asked.

"Where's Bella?" I questioned, ignoring her first question.

The girl's mouth opened. "Get out of here Cullen."

Those words weren't hers.

**

* * *

**

**A/N -** We're starting to get down to business. Hurray!


	13. Where The Buried Come Alive

**Where The Buried Come Alive**

I snapped my head into the direction of the voice, shocked to see a much larger Jacob.

"Where's Bella?" I called out, surprised at the bravery of my voice. I felt anything but brave.

"That's not important. You need to leave. Now." He commanded me around as if I were one of his followers. I turned fully to him and walked up towards him. He glared at me, each step making him angrier.

"Jake? What are you-?" The voice belonged to Bella but the body didn't. A dark haired girl stepped out of a group of trees that aligned the forest around the beach. She kept her attention on the ground until she looked up at me.

"Edward," she gasped.

"Bella?" It was most defiantly a question. This girl did not look like the Bella I had known a month ago, this one was more different. Her hair was much darker, almost black and came down to her elbows. Her brown eyes matched her hair, a blackened brown. Her body was toned, tan and was showing skin I'd never seen on her before.

"Wh- what are you doing here?" she asked, almost angry like Jacob. I opened my mouth but Jacob stepped toward me.

"It doesn't matter, he needs to leave," he growled. I scoffed and stepped closer.

"I'm not going anywhere until I speak to Bella." I found myself growing brave. _Stupid, _I thought. Jacob was five times bigger than me and would surely kill me if he was given the chance. But from his stiff and mad appearance I could tell he'd do it anyways.

"Edward. Jacob's right. You need to go," Bella seconded.

I shook my head. "Not until I get some answers."

"Ed-" Bella began.

"Cullen. Leave now. I'm not kidding and I _am not_ giving you another warning. Leave before I make you leave myself!" he roared and narrowed his eyes at me, his hands growing into fists.

"No." That did it. He growled at me, like an animal and lunged forward. His fist would have made contact with my face if it wasn't for Bella. She jumped in between us and made a barrier.

"Jacob. Don't," she said. He looked down at her, his expression flashing back and forth between anger and something else. What was that? It was soft and more peaceful, it was subtle and obvious.

Then it clicked.

Love.

I felt my own flash of emotion.

Complete, and utter anger.

I couldn't control my actions. My palm lifted up and curled, creating a fist. I threw it forward, brushing past a taller Bella until it landed harshly against Jacob's upper left cheek bone. He blinked once, enough for a familiar red ring to form around his dark chocolate colored eye. His body shook once and his eyes locked onto mine.

"Shit!" Bella screamed, reaching for my wrist. She pulled, making me follow her past Jacob, but clearly not fast enough. His large, dark hand wrapped around my throat, driving me directly into the sandy ground. I was more in shock then anything, surprised that he had actually forced me into the ground with one hand - that was until I felt myself clawing for air.

My face grew warmer as I grabbed his right wrist, digging my nails into it.

"Jacob! Let him go!" Bella screamed. I moved my watery eyes to the direction of her voice. She was standing at the front of my wild, kicking feet, staring at me in horror. My lungs began to search for the much needed air, nothing coming to ease the pressure building.

"JACOB!" Bella screamed. Everything was becoming blurry, heavy. I felt my hands relax; my legs cease their desperate tremors. Then all at once I was hit with a spike of painful air. I gasped, blinking my eyes. Bella's hands were on my chest, her own tears spilling over.

"Are you okay? Edward? Can you breathe?" she asked. I nodded my head and coughed, taking in more air than ever before. I looked around, trying to spot the boy who nearly killed me. He was about ten feet away, fighting with another boy.

"Good. We have to go," Bella crooned. She grabbed my hands, pulling me up on my feet.

"Bella!" The other boy screamed, pulling Jacob into the ground. "Go!"

Bella started running, dragging me like an old doll. I continued to watch the two boys fighting; it was beginning to look like a death match. I tried to recognize the second boy but I couldn't, he did look much like the rest of Quileute kids at the school. He must have been one of them.

I glanced around for Leah. She was in the exact same spot I saw her in, her eyes glued to the fighting boys; a smug look in her eyes.

"Edward! Come on, get in!" Bella shouted, pushing more towards the driver side of my car. I immediately snapped into realization. Unless I wanted to die, I needed to get out of here now. I opened up the door, nearly jumping into the seat. I shakily unlocked her door and then stuck my keys into the ignition, pulling away vastly. Bella kept her eyes on the back window, watching the fight that I could only see when I looked at my rearview window.

When we were clearly away from First Beach, I let myself relax and take a deep breath. Bella seemed to feel the same way because she turned around and sat correctly in the seat, snapping the belt into place. I laughed and followed her lead. The weary grin on my face disappeared when I caught her expression.

"What?" I asked.

She glared at me with her darker eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Bella, you've been gone for a month. No calls, no letters, no emails, no anything," I stated. She nodded her head and faced forward.

"That's how it was supposed to be," she breathed. I snapped my head at her, noticing her shut eyes and clammed mouth.

"Why?" I asked. She looked back at me, her eyes softer.

"Why what?" she questioned.

"Why did you lie?" I felt my eyes grow moist.

"I didn't," she replied, her eyes narrowed.

"You told me your mother died," I stated.

Bella bit her lip quickly and let it go. "She did."

"Are you sure about that?" I asked, anger seeping through.

Bella nodded her head and turned her gaze out toward the window, I bit my tongue. How can she sit there and lie like that? It was insane. Clearly she knew that I knew her mother was alive. Why did she continue to lie? She was a much more of a bad liar than I remember.

"Bella, I know she's alive," I spoke. I pulled the car to a slow stop near the edge of the road that almost brought us into Forks.

"How?" Bella asked, unbuckling her seat belt.

"I spoke to her today." Bella looked up at me, her eyes wide.

"What?" she growled.

"She said that you've been talking to her every day. Why just her?" I was more hurt over the fact that Bella had not made contact with me. Her lies were nothing compared to that. Bella sighed and played with her hands in her lap.

"My mother," she began, sighing. "My mother is different from me. She's more wild, she's happier. She's like a child Edward." Bella looked up at me, her face serious.

"She couldn't handle me now. I'm too grown up for her. She needs to learn how to let go." She looked back down, her eyes getting sad. "But she's also my mother. I love her. I just wish that she wasn't in my life."

"So killing her off was your best shot, huh?" I guessed. Bella nodded her head.

"I'm better off without my parents Edward." She looked up at me, her eyes hurt and sad. Fresh tears spilt over and she wiped at them.

"Bell-" She shook her head and opened the door, climbing out. I followed her lead, running behind her as she entered into the woods that created a barrier around Forks.

"Go home, Edward," she hissed, walking gracefully and angrily through the woods. I followed her into the darkness the gloomy sky had made, watching my footing as she seemed to hover over the broken branches and large rocks. I stumbled countless time, aware of Bella's pace picking up. I began running to keep up with her, almost losing her through the countless twists and turns of the damp, dark woods.

It came to the point where I could no longer track her. She was gone.

I felt my heart quicken, my stomach grow tense.

Bella.

I had lost her?

No, not again.

I wouldn't go through this again, I couldn't. I just can't. It seemed impossible to do it.

I was amazed at the pain I felt in my heart. Amazed at how wet my eyes got and how my chest seemed to be holding in a sob. I fell down to the ground slowly, stuck in a stupor of disbelief and hurt. I had come so far, too far to be put back into this endless depression of darkness and pain. I couldn't go back. I didn't want to.

I leaned against a large tree, letting the back of my skull bounce hard against. I winced at the pain, not just that pain but the one around my throat. My hand quivered upward to the stinging sensation that seemed to get worse. I sighed and dropped my hand; it fell to the ground in a dead fashion. My eyes watered more as I tried to listen to her somewhere – anywhere.

"Fuck," I moaned as a tear fell free. I hated me when I was emotional. If Emmett or Jasper saw me like this they'd make fun of me, even Alice and Rosalie. I had gone from a very indifferent, lack of care boy to one who couldn't stop crying for days straight. It was crazy at how much this had happened. That Bella had changed me into this person.

I sat there underneath the tree, aware that it had began to rain on me as my own tears helped make my face wet. I wiped at my cheeks, knowing it was a waste of time. I pulled my legs up into my chest, pushing my face into them so that when I began to scream…no one would be able to hear me. I did just that too, I opened my mouth and screamed into my legs. The sound muffled by my torn jeans. My tears were forced out, rolling onto the ground that was becoming damper by the second.

"Edward?" a voice croaked. I snapped my head up, blinking back the blurriness. The figure in front of me slowly made itself know. A set of doe, brown eyes blinked sadness at me. I stood up, brushing the mud off my backside.

"Bella? Wh-what are you doing here?" I stammered.

"I can be asking you the same thing," she muttered, her eyes still sad. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm not," I lied. She walked over to me, her eyes set hard and narrowed. I backed up, unsure what she was going to do. To my surprise, she wrapped her arms around me and tucked her head into the crook of my neck. I took in a deep breath, inhaling her strawberry sent that reminded me of the good times we used to have. Those few, yet amazing times. My eyes watered up once again as I thought about those times and my life after them.

"I- I thought you we- were dead," I gasped out loud.

Bella nodded. "I know."

"You-you didn't call!" I accused, tears spilling free and sobs breaking lose.

"I know," she whispered.

"Why!?" I shouted, feeling my legs start to give up. Bella pulled away from me, gluing her eyes to mine. They were matching mine; hurt, wet and overly heartbreaking to see.

"Tell me you love me," she growled.

"What?" I was confused, so confused that my tears and sobs both vanished.

"Tell me that you love me, please," she begged. Her tears spilled over and her lips quivered, pain shooting through her dark chocolate orbs.

"I love you." I was amazed that it wasn't a lie. It was true - every bit of it. Bella took in a deep breath, her tears still falling free. Her eyes wondered down to the space bellow us and I knew that I had to convince her. I took her face into my hands, making her eyes look up at me.

"I love you, Bella. I'm so stupid for not realizing it sooner."

"Do you promise?" she whimpered.

I felt a crease in my forehead. "What?"

She took in a deep breath, her own hands holding my head in her palms. "Do you promise to love me, no matter what?"

I pressed my lips against her, my eyes closing at the familiar touch that seemed to make me feel that I'd never find Euphoria as great as this. I pulled away, her sweet taste still on the tips of my lips. I leaned my forehead onto hers, letting my eyes open. Hers were already on mine, waiting.

"I promise."

She pulled me into a warm embrace, sobbing silently into my shoulder. I held her, no longer needing her comfort but being hers. I rubbed her back slowly and continued to concentrate on her and only her. I held her in my arms, aware that she was here. Forever. At least, I hoped so. I couldn't control Bella's life, that much I was sure of, but what I did know was that I was going to be in as long as I could.

I held her in my arms as if I wasn't holding her at all; she was too much a part of me to be an object. I took deep breaths of her, hitting me with the fact that she was here. She was really and truly here. I opened my mouth to ask her to stay but a noise cut me off. A loud, animalistic growl. It seemed to get louder with each passing moment. Bella pulled away and we both snapped our heads to the direction of the noise.

The first thing I was conscious of was the large, dark beast that haunted my dreams. The next thing I knew was that I was on the ground about five feet away from where I was standing with Bella. I looked for her, not seeing her. The large beast was heading towards me. His large muzzle was shaking and his fists supported most of his weight as he knelt closer to the ground. His back legs bent as he put himself into a pouncing position. I felt my heart stop then speed up in one second. The creature's eyes stared at me in a deathly fashion, a red ring formed brightly around its dark orbs. It growled at me, it's dagger like teeth bared sharply and terribly.

It humanly stared at me, its loud growls corrupting the sound of anything around me. Its long black fur was damp from the sudden rain fall, causing the sky to grow darker and the creature to become larger.

"Jacob!"

My head snapped into the direction of the voice, my fear for myself growing into fear for the person who said it. Bella. I pulled myself onto my elbows, ignoring the pain shooting from my back. The beast turned to her direction as well, standing a little straighter. I stared at Bella. What was she doing? She'd seen this creature before; she knew what it was capable of. She'd seen it attack my father...her father. She knew! What in the hell was she doing.

I couldn't find my voice to call out to her, to tell her to run. I was petrified. Frozen. All I could do was stare at the skinny back of the creature, I could count its ribs as it took deep breaths. I could see Bella's still body, the only thing moving was her chest that rose up and down and her clenching hands. Her eyes stared up at the creature, fear not being seen anywhere. I did however see a crystal tear fall from Bella's dark eyes as the beast began into his pouncing position, aiming for her.

"No!" I screamed at the black furred monster jumped at her, I blinked and the world around me changed.

Bella was on the ground beside the large animal, her face hidden in the dirt and covered by her hair. The growling became louder. I let my eyes flash to the beast who was battling another being just like it. This one was smaller and had brighter fur. The new beast locked its human like arms around the neck of the true monster. The two of them continued to fight, pushing, biting, and pulling. It was a horrible scene.

"Go!" I heard someone shout from beside me. Leah, the girl who I'd mistaken to be Bella, was wrapping her arms around my waist, pulling me to my feet. A taller, older looking boy rushed past us and to where Bella and the fighting animals were, shaking her.

"Come on!" the girl growled, pulling me away from the monsters. I did what the girl wanted, letting her pull me away. I kept my eyes on Bella who was slowly getting up on her feet. I could see her cradling her wrist in her arm, holding it against her stomach - red surrounded the area. I was aware of Bella falling and the boy pulling her into his arms, leading her past the loud, vicious beast that seemed determined into hurting each other, maybe even killing.

"Edward," Leah whispered. I turned my eyes and looked at her. She was staring at me with same dark eyes as Bella concern flooding her vision.

"Yeah?"

She sniffled. "Take care of Bella." I nodded my head, promising a silent promise. It was the only thing I could give.

We arrived to my car, Leah pushing me to the driver's side. The boy came through the dark trees and walked straight to the opposite side.

"Be careful, Sam," I heard Leah say as he opened the door and set her in. I climbed in, sticking my damp keys into the ignition. Bella sad there in a drowsy state, holding her injured wrist in her lap.

"Should I take her to the hospital?" I asked, not sure what to do.

"No," the boy – Sam – growled. He looked at me with the same eyes as everyone, a deep frown delved into his forehead. "You just take her some place safe, some place comforting. You take her home." He stared at me harshly, seriously. I nodded my head once and he slammed Bella's door shut and I drove away.

Away from it all.

* * *

**A/N** - This chapter could have been more satisfying, that much I'm sure of. But...it was one hell of a chapter eh?  
Next time it will be Bella's point of view so we can see what she was up to. And, if you still don't know what the 'beast' is. Go to my profile and find the song that inspired this story. It will have ch.13 beside it ;D

And for my girls on skype, I love you :)


	14. Where The Past Becomes The Present

**Where The Past Becomes The Present**

**Chapter Ten  
**_"Take care of Esme,"_ Carlisle pleaded to me. I shook my head. It wasn't my responsibility to take care of her. She wasn't my wife. It was Carlisle's job.

_"Son. Please....I love you."_ Carlisle's voice was choking on blood. I watch the red seep from his quivering lips and touch the dirt below his head. His hazy blue eyes stared at me, still begging. I let a sob escape as I knew that this was it. That it was the end.

_"I will. I promise. I love you."_ I repeated those over like a mantra as the beast continued to torture my father, with a final goodbye, I ran.

I couldn't get away without hurting myself. The tears made my eyes blurry; I tripped endlessly over sticks, rocks and anything that could manage me to get cut up. I ran until I made my way home.

I just wish that it was me instead of Carlisle.

Me instead of Chief Swan.

Me instead of Bella.

**BPOV – Part One**

Dr. Cullen's glazed over eyes stared in my direction; at my shaking legs that continued to bounce as I silently sobbed. Seth held me against him; rubbing his large, rough palm against my arm. He was comforting me, like he always did. Seth, throughout time, had become more of a brother to me then a friend. A protector, a body guard. The two of us had created a bond, it was are only choice, our obligation.

"It'll be fine," he promised. "Everything will be okay."

I shook my head. "No, it won't."

A fresh wave of sobs broke free and I wrapped my arms tighter around me.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," Seth crooned, pulling me in closer to him. "It will be. I promise you."

I continued to cry, pulling away from him. I looked at his large, dark orbs.

"No, Seth. It's won't! He keeps killing! He'll never stop!" I screamed, sobs wracking me. Seth's dark hands grabbed my shoulders.

"That's not true! You know that! It was an accident!" he yelled back at me, but it was more of a hushed tone.

I stood up. "It's always an accident isn't it!?" He opened his mouth but then shut it as my I glared darkly at him. "Those teens? My dad? Dr. Cullen! This is happening more than it should!"

I realized that I stepped to close to Dr. Cullen's torn body; the nausea hit me before the smell. I glanced down, the color red hit me first and I doubled over; vomiting. I had been standing in what used to be his stomach. His insides had been ripped out and tossed around like a salad, his intestines and kidneys were mixed up with each other. I continued to purge my recent meal, letting new tears fall free. When I was finished I wiped my mouth, sobbing.

"What about us Bella?" Seth whispered, his voice hardly audible. "We've slipped up."

"That's different," I muttered, moving away from Dr. Cullen and the smell.

"Is it?" he asked, eyebrows raised. "Is it really?"

"We did it accidently. He's doing it on purpose." I sniffled and walked past him, reaching to grab Edward's jacket I had been wearing. The only reason I wasn't wearing it know was because of Jacob. He'd gotten angry, he'd gotten stubborn.

Jacob thought that I belonged to him, that I was to be his forever. I didn't love Jake though, I loved Edward. As silly and stupid as it sounded, I was in love with the dork. So much that it hurt, only because I knew that he and I couldn't be, not when I was this person; this monster.

I pulled the jacket on and inhaled the earthy sent it had.

"Jacob's not the same person, he's changed," I spoke to Seth.

"Do you hear yourself?" He smiled, not out of humor but out of anger.

"Why are you protecting him?" I growled, my own anger flashing through me.

For this Seth didn't have an answer to. He stared at me, not blinking or watching, just staring; almost as if he was having a conversation in his head instead of with me. He was resolving himself. He sighed and walked over to me, looking at the destruction around us.

He stopped and smirked. "We have some evidence to get rid of."

-*-

It's amazing how much seeing someone die in front of you can make you change. Not just emotionally or mentally, but physically too. Even more so when you're the killer. We all had options; except it and be something great or except it and stay out of the way. Funny how there isn't a 'no' option, to deny what we were, what we had become. We had all changed; some of use for the best, some of us for the worst and some of us had been driven mad – to death.

We had all gone to Quil's and Jared's funeral last week. No one was sad, no one cried –except their families- but us, the gang; we did not shed one tear, we did not give our condolences. We listened as the elders spoke words in Quileute, a language I had yet to learn. As soon as Harry –Seth's father- closed his ancient book we all turned and walked away. Like an army, in sync and impenetrable. We were a force, held by our leader and our numb emotions.

Every time we changed, we hunted. Together. A family. A pack. A group of beasts doing only as nature had taught us. As much as we wanted to deny the monsters inside us we knew that it wouldn't be possible. We were far too gone to return. It was something we understood, that we knew – we wanted to change that and we would; but not yet. Not when we were so under control that we couldn't even have a coherent thought.

As the endless rain continued to pour down on the dreary, small reservation when we awoke on the shore of First Beach we stared at the waters. They crashed against each other, making a loud yet calming noise. We were all aligned in perfect order. Alpha to Omega – the rest of us falling into place. We all slowly sat up, never breaking the synchronized movements. We all smacked our mouths against our tongues…thirsty. We looked at each other, staring at the depths of each other's eyes as we recalled our killings.

"Go home," Jacob ordered as he pulled himself onto his feet. We all watched him walk away from us, like he always did. The most of us spent our time together, never separating where as he'd often venture into solitude. We never knew why he did this, sometimes we'd like to pretend that he sat there and pitied himself – if only we could be so lucky.

"I'm still tired," Embry said. He got up onto his feet, his clothes tattered and ripped. "I'm going to go home. I haven't had a real cooked meal in…forever."

He smiled at us and walked away. One by one the rest of the pack did the same. It was the first time in a long time that we all had gone on our own since we'd made the pact the day my father died, the full moon we'd all joined together again. I was left on the beach, drenched and cold. It was five minutes of sitting alone that brought me a bad feeling deep inside that had me leaving the beach. But unlike the rest of us I didn't have a home to go too. I was a stray. Instead I went to the place I disliked to go.

Jacob's.

I picked up shoes that were ruined and headed to his home, aware that this would not be pleasant. I walked through the wet sand, my head down the whole time. It was that I feared Jacob, no, that was never it. And it wasn't that he annoyed me. I disliked Jacob because he wasn't the boy I had learned to love, to be best friends with. He was a new person, a stranger. A shadow. Jacob Black was no longer the boy that smiled, that laughed, that had a sense of right and wrong.

As I stepped in front of the familiar red door that led into the small barricades of the Black's home, I let out a shaky breath. It'd been months since I stepped foot into the claustrophobic yet homey place that sheltered a father and his son – not to mention a best friend who'd often stop by. I curled my fingers into a fist and brought it forward to tap against the wooden door, but to my surprise it opened on its own. Jacob stared at me with broken, haggard eyes.

"Bella," he greeted solemnly.

"Hey, Jake," I replied, timidly waving and grinning.

We stood there awkwardly. I was continued to be anything but dry with the heavy pounding of the rain. Jacob shifted on one foot and moved away, leaving an opening in the door. He extended his arm out, it gestured into the warmth of his home. I looked at him, he nodded and I walked in. Signals were something we'd always understand – it was our way of communicating. I glanced at the familiar furniture, the musky, earthy scent that wafted around every part of my body. Billy's wheelchair creaked out of his bedroom and turned, headed toward us.

"Hey there, Bella. It's been awhile," he croaked.

I nodded my head. "It has."

He sighed. "Sorry about your dad."

He had no right to apologize. I just nodded my head. He maneuvered his wheel chair, making a 180 and headed back into his bedroom. The floor creaked as he made his way in, shutting the door gently. Jacob and I stood in silence; the sound of the wind whooshing and the rain hitting hard against the roof.

"A storm is coming in," I stated, not sure what to say.

He grinned. "I know."

"Maybe it'll begin to snow again soon," I spoke.

He smiled once again. "Most likely."

The air between was awkward. We stared down at our feet, at the walls, at anything that wouldn't let our eyes connect. It was a shameful act, cowardly, but we both didn't know how to act around each other in a human manor. We'd lost ourselves and going back was always the hardest thing to do. A yawn escaped from my stilled lips.

"I feel the same way. I was going to go to bed but if you want you can take my room and I'll have the couch," Jacob spoke. He sat down on the small love seat and made his body fit better – it really didn't matter though. Jacob had grown, like all of us. He wasn't the small, lanky teenager that he used to be. He was now more of man. Full grown and always tired. I bit my lip as I stared at the opening to the small room. The mattress was no bigger than the couch but it offered more moving room. I felt guilty for taking it from him; he needed more rest then all of us. But then again I was tired, physically and emotionally. But this still felt wrong. I sat on the edge of the bed, my eyes roaming over the small room. It made me smile. We'd spent numerous days in here, when we were younger. It was often in the summer time when I still lived with my mother. Dad would always go fishing with Billy and the two of us would hang out.

Funny how things can change dramatically. Jacob and I went from best friends to strangers in the blink of the eye. Things weren't the same anymore and I had a feeling they would never be. But as much as we no longer spent time together, the more the connection grew. Jacob was sure that we'd be together some day, that I'd become the Alpha female. That me and him would rule the pack and all future members. I didn't want that – I didn't want this. I wanted to be a normal teenager and be with whoever I wanted. Like Edward.

My love for him only grew as I spent more days away, more days preying on innocent humans. As each full moon rolled around, I'd think about him. Even if I could choose my own mate, it wouldn't be him. I was too dangerous now. I wouldn't be able to have him around me when I became the thing I loathed the most. Edward and I could never be, but I wouldn't be with Jacob either.

A tap at the door knocked me out of my thought process. I looked up to see Jacob slowly creaking the door open. He smiled at me, I guess. It was tight line formed but it didn't shine like it used to.

"Hey Bells," he stated, closing the door behind him. I felt very claustrophobic then.

"What's up?" I asked, curious as to why he was here.

He walked toward me, motioning at with his hand to scoot. I moved until I touched the wall. He sat on the edge of the bed, his large body touching mine.

"We need to talk," he said.

"About what?" I asked, a little rude.

His shoulders slumped. "Us."

I stayed quiet, not sure how to respond. I hadn't been expecting that. Jacob rarely said a full sentence to me let alone a touchy subject like this.

"Oh," was all that would come out.

"I think that's it time you took on your role," he said tough like. As if he was in his beast form now. I looked at him then. His face was deep in thought and his eyes slightly dazed like. Jacob was in his beat from, at least mentally.

"And how would I do that?" I didn't want the answer. I didn't want to ask the question. It just slipped out.

"Well, we'd have to wait for the next full moon. Then, only me and you go on the hunt. Just us, no one else. Then we, well, we become one." Jacob's cheeks slightly grew a pink color.

"Where are you getting at?" I growled.

He looked down, embarrassed. "I think you know."

I groaned as I thought about it. I shook my head, "No."

He looked up then; all traces of embarrassment were gone and replaced with determination.

"Bella, it's our only option. _Your_ only option. You will become leader of this pack if something ever happens to me. It's time that you began to learn the ways. It's the only way."

"I don't want to be Alpha." I didn't want to say that, but once again words fell out of my mouth like vomit.

"You have to be Alpha," he retorted.

"Why?"

"Because!" he growled, reaching for the opening of my jacket and pulling it away from my shoulders. On my collar bone reviled a crescent scar. His dark fingers traced it. I looked up at him, his dark eyes soaring into mine lovingly. "You're mine."

"Jake-" I began to protest but his lips captured mine in. I planned to pull away, to maybe hit him or even walk out of his house but to my surprise I kissed him back. I think he was shocked as well, his lips stilled before the pressed against mine. His hands caressed my shoulders and turned my body to get in a more comfortable position.

As his lips roughly collided with mine his hands moved to my hips, pulling me into a striding pose. My hands slipped behind his neck and tumbled through his dark locks. I pressed my lips harder against him, his hands pushing my lap into his. He groaned, I moaned and we fell back on the bed. It wasn't until we were in this position, tongues tapping and hands roaming that I realized how terribly wrong and painful this was.

Physically I was kissing Jacob but mentally I was kissing Edward. Both realizations leaving me breathless.

I stared down at Jacob, his midnight brown eyes blurring to green and then back to their regular color. His choppy, dark haircut turned into a wave of bronze and back to black. The large boy's frame shrunk into Edward's. Jacob went from Edward to himself over and over, each blur becoming more hazy and nauseating. My head grew heavy, my body swayed and everything turned black.

**

* * *

**

A/N

– Sorry for the delay in updating. I've been busy with The Sparkle Awards, Something Special and Snitch. Not to mention I had a minor case of Writer's Block. Busy, busy times.

Forgive me?


	15. Where The Changes Are The Changed

**Where The Changes Are The Changed**

**BPOV – Part Two**

I awoke to silence, to lightness, to warmth. To a sudden feeling that seemed to radiate throughout my entire body – as if I had been shaken and shocked. It was an odd feeling; it came with no emotion, no hunger, and no self hatred. I awoke to something new and something foreign. Whether I was happy about it or not was beyond me. All I knew was that for once in a very long time I was no longer sad.

"Bells?" a voice purred. I looked around me; I was still in Jacob's room. I sat up and looked at him. He was slowly getting up as well. He looked at me, his eyes going a little wide.

"What happened?" I asked, not too sure if it was to him or myself.

"I think we passed out," he mumbled, still staring at me in shock.

I felt self-conscious. "What?"

"I think you should go see for yourself." I didn't like the way he said. I didn't like the acid tone or the smug-like smile that followed. I didn't like the fact that I had to go look for myself. I stood up, my legs stiff. I popped my neck and stretched my arms. I felt like my body had been placed in a small box for a long time. I left Jacob's room and crossed the hall, entered the bathroom and snapped the light on.

The first thing I was aware of in the mirror was the red halo that circled my brown eyes. I was hungry. The second thing I noticed was how dark my hair had gotten – how long and luscious it got. It came down to my elbows instead of just above my chest. My skin was smooth, pearl like but a lot more tan – I was no longer pale. My muscles had become more distinct, as if I had spent weeks lifting weights and working out. It was odd. I glared at the new girl in the mirror and went back to Jacob's room. He'd changed too, somewhat that is. He seemed bigger…older. I bit my lip and leaned against his wall. He gazed at me and sighed.

"It happened again," he stated.

I nodded my head. "Clearly."

He rolled his eyes and let out a shaky breath. "Only to you, me and Seth."

"What?" My voice was full of disbelief. "How do you know?"

He got up off his bed and grabbed my wrist, pulling me out of his room and into the living room. Seth sat on the couch, flipping through the basic cable and static. He looked at me, dark eyes with the red rim. He seemed older too, almost like a smaller version of Jacob. I mentally screamed a 'no', anger pulsed through me.

"What about the others?" I asked.

"Nope. Just us," Seth replied, thumbing the remote. I bit my tongue and sat beside him. Either the couch got smaller or we got bigger. Jacob brought a dining table chair and sat near us. We stared at the TV. Seth never settled on a channel. After five minutes of not speaking to each other, Seth broke the silence.

"I'm dying over here. If I don't eat soon I will seriously eat this couch."

"There's food in the kitchen," Jake stated. Seth looked uncomfortable then.

"I'm not really hungry for anything in there." It was hushed, but we all knew where he was getting at.

I sighed. "I'm hungry too."

"You guys have a few more hours before you can change. You're just out of you eating schedule since the changes," Jacob said, knowledge and power in each word.

"Why aren't you hungry, Jake?" Seth began. "After all you changed too."

Jacob shrugged his shoulders and snatched the remote out of Seth's grasp, changing to some channel. Seth narrowed his eyes at Jacob; it wasn't a glare but just more of a skeptic look. He pulled himself off of the couch and stomped out of the house, slamming the front door. I winced. Then the phone rang and I groaned.

Jacob grinned. "That's not for me."

I glared at him and walked over to phone and brought it to my ear, straightening the coil that kept it attached to its base.

"Hey, mom." I didn't even have to guess.

"Hey , sweetie." I smiled at bit. "How are you today?"

"Good, just a little hungry." There was no point in lying.

"Oh, okay. I'll let you go so you can eat. I just wanted to call and check in. See how you're doing," she said softly but yet in a rush. I heard her breathe on the other line. "Have you thought about what I said?"

I licked my lips. "I have."

"So?"

"I'm going to stay here…for awhile."

She sighed. "Alright. But remember, you can always come back home with me."

I nodded even though she couldn't see. "Love you."

"I love you, too."

I set the phone back down and walked back to the couch. I could feel Jacob's eyes on me. I ignored him as best as I could and kept my eyes on the television screen. I wasn't sure what he was watching, the images wouldn't stay in my head long enough to decipher what they were. I chewed on my lips, trying to forget the hunger the seemed to swarm around me instead of in my stomach. I couldn't.

I groaned. "I don't think I'm going to make till tonight. Seriously, I feel like I could eat this couch _and _house." The hunger was getting worse. A loud howl echoed through the house and outside, a howl that could only belong to one of us. I looked at Jacob, my eyebrows raised in question.

He swallowed hard, a fearful look on his face. "I don't think you have to wait anymore."

"Why not?" I questioned, my words small.

He stared at me as he got up onto his feet. I mimicked him and followed him out the front door. We headed straight for the nearest breech of trees that led into the forest. Once we were deep enough Jacob rolled his shoulders and I stopped treading after him and prepared for the transformation that he would embark.

He slipped off his black t-shirt and dropped it on the ground. Next followed his pants, something that I was familiar with. We'd all seen each other naked in some shape or form, but we never thought about it in a sexual context. Once Jacob was free of clothes he began to shake out his body, stretching his arms and jogging in place. I knew what he was doing. He wasn't preparing himself for the running he'd do or the climbing. Nothing physical. He was preparing himself for the unruly change from man to beast.

Before the transformation could take he looked back at me.

"You going with me or not?" he asked.

I felt my eyes narrow. "I can't…I'm not-"

"Bella. Seth did it. You can too." The thing about our transformation's was that we could only do it during a full moon and can only transform back once the night was over. Jacob, he was different. He could do it when he wanted – only him. None of us could ever find out but as each of us go through some form of change we realized that it wouldn't be long before we could all do it. We were evolving.

"Go on, Bells. Try it. It feels good to do it when you want – if you ignore the pain." He smiled at me, motioning for me to stand beside him. I slowly made my way, shredding some pieces of clothing until I was standing beside him – naked. At this point it finally became awkward. Especially the way he gazed at me longer then he should have. He smiled at me and looked forward, his eyes closing.

I waited for the familiar heat vibrations that usually came, there was none. I peeked at Jacob – he was changing. I backed away to give him space. He clenched his jaw tightly and fat tears fell from his eyes slowly. His brown skin turned an ugly shade of pink and his muscles tensed. But..it only looked like he was doing that. In reality it was his skin ripping from the tissue underneath it. The skin didn't fall off like it always did during a person's first transformation; it seemed to just disappear – almost like an invisible black hole was built into parts of his body. The skin began to tear, ripping from itself. Jacob grunted and cursed, he growled and he shook his head. I knew how the pain was, it was…not something I'd wish upon anyone, even him.

His red tissue began to show, blood sometimes breaking free before the skin was completely torn apart. All over his body skin began to rip free and disappear; red, muscled tissue was seen. But before he could be completely skin free black hairs started to grow, replacing the skin. His legs grew taller, his arms followed. His back hunched and his fists were touching the ground. Black surrounded his body and his face began to morph. His jaw thinned and grew longer; combining with his nose it became a muzzle. Long daggered teeth yapped as his ears grew longer, elf like and closer at the top of his head. His forehead extended out and his eyeballs moved with it, making his face now canine.

His muscles grew bigger in his arms and his black hair came to halt once it was long enough to keep his body warm. His tail was thin and had matching hair length. Jacob truly looked like a man made into a wolf. A werewolf. Pure and true. And if I didn't want to get eaten I'd better hurry and transform. I took a deep breath and shut my eyes, waiting, hoping…and then it happened. A hot wave ran through my body, almost as if boiled water was being spilt on me from high above. It scorched my skin, at least that's what it felt like. My own flesh was beginning to tear apart. I bit my lip hard, trying to take the pain away. Blood leaked, making the transformation process going faster. My lip healed as my hair began to sprout out and become my new skin.

I felt myself grow taller as my legs grew and got stronger. I felt my body lean forward as my new hands, my paws, touched the dirt. My jaw panged with pain, almost like toothache, as it too became part of the change. My face quickly took the form of a wolves, the pain was still there. It was a mixture of getting burnt, getting thrown against a brick wall over and over, and drowning. My breathing had stopped entirely as the metamorphism took charge. My lungs began to burn and shrink, pained. Then, in one quick second, the pain was gone and I could breathe again. My human thoughts were mostly gone then.

_Hungry. Food. Must hunt._

I watched through these wolf eyes. Almost like watching TV. I couldn't control where I was going, I could only watch. I couldn't protest the hunger, I could only feel it. And I felt nothing as I, we, killed the couple in front of us. I could only watch and deal later. I could only taste and feel. The guilt would have to wait.

The couple in front of us was maybe in their thirties. Anger was their main emotion, their scent. Jacob went straight for the man, the larger body of the two. The man's yell was muffled but Jacob's impact into the man. His hands shot up in the air. I could have sworn I smiled as Jacob's teeth sank into the man's neck, snapping his head off. The woman was running now, screaming. Her heart pounded fiercely as she tried to leave the campsite. I let her run away.

I enjoyed the chase.

When she was out of breath enough I jumped to the nearest tree breech, my paws sinking into the damp earth. It was a soft landing place. The wind slightly picked up as I ran towards her. She was running along the trail. I could see her head beginning to turn to look back. I went left and cut through the trees, picking up my speed. I turned on my heel and headed right..right into her. She let out a single scream as I came through the trees. I felt her body hit the ground beneath me. She hit against me, letting out a 'no', 'help me'…desperate pleas that I rarely even understood. My palms came onto her back as she tried to crawl away, the nails dug into her as I pulled. She screamed at the deep scratches I made.

Blood filled the air.

Blood filled in my mouth as I sank my teeth into her arm.

Bones snapped as I pulled the numb limb from her body.

My sharp teeth dug into her skin, gripping, pulling, and chewing. The taste was unforgettable, sweet and sultry-like. It was amazing how wonderful she tasted. Her heart was still beating but she was unconscious. The sound was a motivator, telling me to finish until it no longer made a noise. I would do just that. I moved my mouth to her neck, taking the salty, blood stained thing in between my teeth. I clamped down on it with. Placing my front legs on her battered chest I heaved – breaking her neck and pulling it free from her body. The beating stopped and the feast began.

My thoughts become incoherent, fuzzy. I gave up on trying to keep my normal self from thinking and let the beast continue what it wanted.

When I could think again I was running. Jacob was next to me, his eyes fierce and ears pressed against his skull. He was like a bullet, crashing through the forest. I must have looked the same. We were running from something…or to something. I felt panicked and scared, but also determined.

Yes, we were most defiantly running to something.

I heard a familiar voice then. "Where's Bella?"

_Edward. _

Jacob stopped. I stopped. A small shack was near us, we used it to keep back up clothes. There were many of those around. I transformed back. It was much easier then turning into our monster forms. There was no pain involved. Instead it was like just turning off a switch. My arms grew back to their normal sizes. My back straightened. The hair on my body turned into skin. My face went back to its normal shape. I was me again, racing Jacob as he did the same. Once inside the small space we hurried to get dressed. He beat me by a milestone. I could no longer hear Edward, once in my human form I lost the powerful senses I had when I was in my werewolf form.

As soon as I was dressed I was running to where his voice came from. I saw Jacob's back, his fist were tight at his side.

He spoke then, "That's not important. You need to leave. Now."

I began to walk around Jacob, worried as to what he was going to do. "Jake? What are you-?" There he was.

"Edward," I gasped. It had been months since I last saw him. Had he always been this beautiful? His green eyes stared at me in shock.

"Bella?" he asked. His eyes travelled down my body, taking in my changes. At this point in time I wanted to kiss him, to hold him, to tell him I love him.

He was in danger.

"Wh- what are you doing here?" I asked, angered by the fact at he _was_ here. He opened his mouth to speak but Jacob cut him off.

"It doesn't matter, he needs to leave," he growled.

"I'm not going anywhere until I speak to Bella." _Stupid!_ I thought. Jacob would kill Edward. Didn't he realize this? I couldn't let that happen.

"Edward. Jacob's right. You need to go," I stated.

He began to protest. "Not until I get some answers." Couldn't this kid take a hint?

"Ed-" I didn't get a chance to finish.

"Cullen. Leave now. I'm not kidding and I _am not_ giving you another warning. Leave before I make you leave myself!" It was then that I knew that Edward wasn't going to get another chance. Jacob was livid. I'd never seen him this angry before.

"No." _Fuck!_ I screamed mentally. Jacob growled at Edward, his monster coming through. Jacob raised his fist. He'd probably kill him in one hit. I rushed and got in between them.

"Jacob. Don't," I said to him. Jacob glared at me with hatred – his beast anger that I had gotten in the way of his new meal. But then it changed to that Jacob look I was familiar with. His eyes glazed over as they looked in mine, his expressions softened. I felt a slight of ease. Then that was ruined when Edward's pale fist hit Jacob's face.

Jacob blinked, like he was dazed. A red ring formed around his eyes and I felt my body grow cold. He turned his gaze to Edward and I knew there would be no stopping him now.

"Shit!" I screamed and grabbed Edward, pulling him away before Jacob could transform and murder the love of my life. I wasn't fast enough. Jacob's large, human palm wrapped around Edward's throat and threw him onto the ground. His face turned red and tears began to spill out of his eyes as he struggled for freedom.

"Jacob! Let him go!" I screamed. I stood in horror as I watched what was going on. Feeling like an idiot for not doing anything. But it was like I was frozen in place.

"JACOB!" I screamed again. Seth came running at lightning speed. I wasn't sure where he came from but I was glad he was. He crashed into Jacob, sending him flying far away from Edward. Edward struggled for air. Tears broke free as I saw him like this.

"Are you okay? Edward? Can you breathe?" I was down by his side, touching him to make sure that he was real and okay. He nodded his head and a felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

"Good. We have to go."

**

* * *

**

A/N –

So, this chapter was against everything I hate. Re-living something that had already happened. But I really had no other option. The next chapter we will be back to Edward's pov and life will be the same. Sort of.

If we make it to 300 reviews I will have a present for everyone. It will be an outtake chapter. Jacob's point of view – it will be about how Bella became a werewolf. Interested? Good. Review.

:)


	16. Where The Secrets Are Hope

**Where The Secrets Are Hope**

Often in life God shows his gratitude and generosity. He gives us a lesson to learn; he puts us in a lose/win situation. For me it was losing my father in order to gain Bella. Sure I had her before but it wasn't until the most important man in my life selflessly gave up his life in order to keep me alive. Surely I had entered the darkest time in my life but I had to be there so I could get here in this blissful, euphoric state of love.

I had to reach my breaking point.

But I wonder of God's existence. How could a man do this much destruction? Make people monsters? Make Bella a monster?

Why would he do something this horrible to an innocent human being?

Where was Bella's win?

A lot had happened in both of our live. We were both broken, we were lost; we were haunted souls that couldn't find our home. But there was a bright side to this whole thing. We were finally, and truly together.

We were in love.

Nothing could or would _ever _change that.

It had been three hours since everything happened; since Jacob's attack, since Bella told the truth, since I told her I loved her. It had happened.

We chose to stay silent as we entered my still home. I was not worried about my mother or Alice. I just wanted to be with Bella, I wanted her safe. We made our way up the stairs, my arm stretched out behind me as Bella's hand held onto mine. She was walking slowly behind, her eyelids dropping. I could tell she was tired, and I was eager to make sure she could sleep peacefully without worry.

In my bedroom I kicked off my shoes, watching as Bella slipped of her dirty white tennis shoes, and crawl onto my bed.

She didn't even bother to get under the covers.

She simply moved to the left side of the bed and rested her head against the pillow. I shed my jacket off and joined her – our eyes never left each other's.

We lay across from each other; her eyes tired, mine curious. I brought my hand to her flushed cheek, caressing the soft skin with the back of my fingers. I kept them there, my eyed glued to hers. I felt her hand trickle along my bare arm, making the hairs rise. Her fingers interlocked with mine.

She guided our hands to the area in between us. Time seemed to stand still – almost as if God was giving us a chance to be together without any interruptions or pain.

It was just me and her alone in the world.

I grinned, she did too. Bella's eyes closed slowly as her body began to relax. She was sleeping. I would have joined her but I didn't feel like wasting away the time I had with her here beside me.

Here we are; lost in each other's presence as we try to push back all the things that had happened hours ago. It was much like starting a new chapter in a book; a fresh start, a stopping point, a check point. She and I had started a story that had grown, that had continued onward and became something bigger then we had ever dreamed. But as the ending goes, we do not know. We are happily stuck at the ending of one chapter, waiting to see where the next one takes us.

Truthfully I don't want to know.

I just want to be here, at the stopping point, with Bella – forever.

This was the interlude in our dainty little play of romance, fights, loss, love and grief.

But this interlude was also a prelude of something that we may never get again.

Us.

I wanted to ask Bella what was going to happen. I wanted her to tell me how this had all happened. I wanted answers. I _needed_ answers. But asking anything right now felt wrong. Doing anything but holding Bella in my arms felt wrong. We had this time together, whether it was our last I wasn't sure. All I knew was that I was going to make best of what I had, right now and right here.

I was aware that I shouldn't be doing this. That I shouldn't be getting my hopes up when pain would surely follow. But I was at peace, I was in my euphoria. I couldn't let that go. I had longed for it for so long that doing something like waking her up so we can talk about things that would put both of us in a distress state.

But I had to.

There were things that we had to talk about no matter how much either of us didn't want to.

I shook her shoulder gently and her eyes slowly opened and looked into mine. She smiled and closed them, planning to go back to sleep no doubt.

"Bella," I whispered. Her eyes snapped up to me.

"Mmm…yeah?" she replied, clearly exhausted.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

She yawned and nodded her head, her eyelashes kissing her cheeks as she closed her dark orbs once more.

"Bella?" Her eyes snapped up to me. "I need you to stay awake for me."

She stared at me with a little more insecurity but slowly sat up. I followed her lead and pressed my back against my head board. She did the same but rested her head on my shoulder. She yawned multiple times before I finally opened my mouth to speak.

"What is Jacob?" I asked her. The image of the beastly creature that had killed my father popped into my mind. The monster was Jacob. Whatever Jacob was.

Jacob had killed my father and Charlie, maybe others.

The realization just hit me like a ton of bricks.

Jacob _killed_ my father.

The anger stabbed through my like a drowning body fighting a current in a river.

"Edward?" Bella asked softly, her hand grazing my face. I turned my attention down to her, unclenching my jaw and letting my fists relax.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Jacob…" She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Jacob isn't the only thing out there like that."

I felt myself grow very confused.

"What?" I managed to croak.

"You know all those kids I hang out with at school?" I nodded my head. "They're just like him."

My eyes narrowed at her as I figured this puzzle out. If Jacob was that thing and the others are the same thing then –

"Bella, why are you hanging out with monsters?" I asked, my eyebrows rising.

She stared at me as if I was some strange creature from another planet. "Don't you get it, Edward?"

"Get what?"

"I'm one of them," she stated with what seemed to be anger.

I felt a smile grow on my face, and then a laugh escape my smothered chest. Bella stared at me with fresh tears in her eyes as I continued to burst it out in laughs of hysteria. I knew she wasn't lying – her face was anything but lies. But I didn't want to believe it.

How could I?

Eventually the laughs faded and I was left with confusion, hurt, and disbelief. Bella was left with tears, anger, and what seemed to be self hatred. I wasn't sure. I just knew I was the cause of it.

"Bella?" I called out to her. She turned her head into my direction, her eyes staring anywhere but at me. "I'm sorry."

She shrugged her shoulders and sniffled, wiping away a tear. I took her face into my hands and made her look at me, not proud that I had to force her. She stared into my eyes, a larger sadness growing as I wiped away each tear as it fell.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, my voice breaking. I was crying too.

She smiled at me. "You're not supposed to cry."

I grinned back. "Well, I can't help it. It's how I've been for months."

She sighed and scooted away from me until she was off the bed.

"I want to tell you everything." She spoke as she lifted up one of my books from my dresser. She looked up at me then. "I just don't think I have the strength to do so."

"I want you to tell me." No I don't. I'd rather be in the dark. But those weren't the words that came out of my mouth.

"Are you sure?" I nodded my head. Mentally shaking it.

She sighed and set the book back down, making her way to my side of the bed. She sat beside my legs, scratching off the dried up mud.

"Jacob, and I, and everyone. We didn't always used to be what we are-"

I cut her off. "Which is?"

She looked at me and grinned, at least, I think it was a grin.

"Werewolf."

I snorted. Then I realized she wasn't lying. "Oh."

She nodded her head and bit her lip.

"Seriously?" I asked, still unsure about the whole thing.

"Yep," she said nonchalantly.

"Like, silver bullets, full moon type of stuff?"

She nodded her head slowly. "Yeah, except some things are a bit sketchy."

"What do you mean?" I questioned her, sitting up a bit straighter.

"Well, it used to be only full moons that made us change, but now some of us can do it whenever we want," she explained.

"Oh, that sounds…cool." It was my only response.

"I guess," Bella mumbled. "But anyways, we haven't been werewolves all our lives."

"Then how'd you…_change_?"

"There's this legend that the Quileute's have. It was said that we – I mean, _they_, descended from wolves. Everyone figured it was a bunch of BS but I guess it wasn't. They did descend from wolves, just, werewolves."

"I'm so confused," I confessed.

"Me too, Edward. No one will tell me exactly everything. From what I can tell it's always been this way. Not everyone in the tribe can become a werewolf, it just started off as one and carried on. Like a disease or something."

I ran a hand through my hair. "And..how did you become one then?"

She sighed and pulled away from the bed, crossing her arms and walking around my bed to stare out the window. She stayed quiet for a moment, her breathing shallow and harsh.

"Jacob…attacked me," she stated. I felt myself sit up straighter and my fists lock. As if she could sense what I was feeling she turned around and looked at me, ready to defend the monster. "It wasn't his fault. It was an accident. I forgive him."

"Well, I don't!" I growled.

She sighed and her face grew sad, she began to walk to be but froze suddenly, panic all over her face.

"What?" I asked.

"Shh…" she purred.

I felt my hands grow moist and I began to panic by her harsh breathing. There was a noise, I wasn't sure what it was, it echoed from downstairs.

And then I heard it clearly.

"EDWARD!"

"It's Alice," I stated, breathless and a little relieved. I jumped off the bed and ran to my bedroom door, throwing it open as I called out her name.

"Alice? What's wrong!?" I shouted as I made my way down the hall and to the stairs. I descended down them with Bella on my heels. Once at the bottom I came to a full blown halt at the sight I was seeing.

It was Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper – side by side; covered in blood. Their expressions were blank, almost deathly. I could see their chests rising up and down as they breathed deeply. Their bodies shook and sounds of fear escaped their lips.

"What happened?" I asked, running to my little sister who was on the brink of tears.

"Em…Em – Emmett's dead," she croaked in a horrible sob.

I felt a smile touch my lips. "Yeah, right."

"It's true," Jasper spoke. I turned my attention to him. He walked into the living room and took a seat. I followed him, holding Alice to my side. Rosalie stayed where she was. I eyed her as I passed by her shivering body. She had her hands wrapped around her stomach and seemed dazed off.

I knew Bella was following us, somewhere. I pulled Alice down on the couch with me. I felt her small arms wrap around my waist and I pulled her into me. I stared at my best friend. He seemed so old and haggard. He leaned back in the chair and took deep breaths.

"What happened?" I asked him, feeling Alice's shudders run through my body.

"We were at the cabin." It was Rosalie who decided to speak. Everyone turned their attention to her, including Bella who found her way behind me and Alice. "I told Emmett everything…he got mad…he went into the woods. I went after him…but there was-"

"An animal?" Bella asked, her tone nonchalant.

Rosalie nodded her head. "It was like a..bear, or like, a wolf-bear. I'm not sure what it was."

"It was like a fucking _werewolf_," Jasper stated.

I looked at Bella, she was staring at the wall behind Jasper. I was waiting for her to say something – to do something. She didn't.

"Did you guys call the cops?" I asked.

"We planned on to," Jasper said, scoffing a little.

"Well, why didn't you?" I asked.

"There were more," Rosalie said, fresh sobs in her chest.

"How many more?" Bella hissed.

"Like, three or four. I didn't want to stick around to count."

Before I knew it Bella was running out of the living room and to the front door. I let go of Alice who tried clinging back to me but I was too far away. I followed Bella outside the house, calling out to her. She cut through the lawn and into the dark woods.

"Bella!" I screamed. "Bella!"

There was no response. I waited for a while and then finally I heard the noise of a wolf howl. It was deep and loud. But that one wolf turned into two, then three. Before I knew it there were many howls in the night light, right below a full moon.

I felt my breath kick up and I began to retreat into my home. But then I heard a twig snap and I shut my eyes in preparation for my long awaited death.

* * *

A/N: Time for a long list of excuses for the delay in an update.

1. In November I was participating in National Novel Writing Month. I wrote 50,000 words in 18 days. Therefore I could have gone back to writing fanfiction stuff but I moved the 20th of November and didn't get the internet until the 1st of December.

2. I didn't have time to write once I got hold of the internet again. I was busy with other things.

3. When I did get time I spent my time bullshitting around – bad excuse but true.

4. I got writer's block and began writing something random; a oneshot titled **Scarecrow**. Go read it :D

And that's it. Here' s a majorly sucky update. I know I promised an outtake chapter a long time ago but that is currently being written by a guest writer. And another reason for the sucky chapter is because I wasn't sure where to go.

So, a sequel. Do you want one? Do you not? There's a poll on my profile, please go take so that way I can pump out ideas for whatever option wins.

Sorry for the lateness. Forgive me please :D


	17. Where The Hatred Is Nothing

**Where The Hatred Is Nothing**

At this moment in time it wasn't fearing the so called werewolves that had me cowering to the ground. No, never. It was the cold touch of knowing that death was seconds away. I wasn't ready to go; I wasn't ready to have my last breath. But I knew that there was nothing I could do to prevent this.

That's what I hated most.

Seeing myself this way.

I felt like I had left my body and I was watching myself through a window. I could see the fear, the horror. I just couldn't do anything. I was bound to where I was, never to make a single move that may have possibly saved my life.

I was petrified, frozen in my own fear.

I heard another snap, a deep breath, and then a curse. I felt myself relax slightly as I turned my head and looked past my shoulders. I nearly did a double take as I saw a large figure exit the darkened trees. He nearly blended in, but not enough.

Jacob Black stared at me with his dark eyes. I figured that he would be glaring at me or getting ready to eat me alive. Instead he just stared at me, completely and utterly hopeless. I stood up straight, not sure what to do, how to act. I wasn't even sure if I should speak.

But I guess he'd made the decision for me.

"I'm so jealous of you," he stated, walking out of the woods. I was surprised to see him naked. I quickly looked away, very awkward of everything.

"Uhm, why is that?" I asked.

"Your life is so perfect," he said.

I laughed. "Perfect? You have got to be kidding me." I turned my head and looked at him, my face full of angered humor.

"People seem to drop like flies around me. Not to mention I'm in love with someone who eats people for a living. Oh, and have I mentioned I have a best friend in love with me?" I clucked my tongue. "I would love to have a perfect life."

"That's exactly it. You have people who love you. I don't," he started. "My father is dead, my mother is dead, and my sisters are dead. My friends hate my fucking guts and the one person I love doesn't love me back. The worst part is knowing that it was all my fault."

I scratched my arm. "I didn't know that."

He laughed at me, looking towards the woods. "Yeah. My life sucks." He turned his attention back to me. "But what am I going to do about it?"

I stood there feeling the cold air touch my skin. But then I realized it was probably worse for Jacob. As much as I hated him and wanted him to die, I felt sudden sympathy for him.

"You want to come in or something?" I asked.

He turned his attention to me. "You're really going to let someone like me in your house?"

I shoved my hands into my pocket. "Would you rather be in the cold?"

He grinned. "Good point."

I started for the front door. I could feel Jacob behind me without knowing if he was really there or not. But once at the door I was faced with a dilemma. Three others were still inside and Jacob was naked. It wouldn't be difficult to sneak him but there was a chance that we'd get caught.

It wasn't that I cared about bringing Jacob into the house. It was just his nakedness that was a problem. Not to mention the jokes that Jasper would say. But then I remembered something. Jasper was nowhere near any joking attitude – no one was. Emmett was dead.

I think I just realized this.

I was hit by sudden sadness that I nearly fell backwards. _Emmett was dead._

The worst part was knowing that the killer was right behind me.

I wonder if he even remembered killing anyone.

I'd find out, just not yet, not like this.

I opened the door and slowly stepped in, peeking around to see who was walking around the house. I made my way down the hall, looking back to see if Jacob was following. He was. He stared off at the many things that were in my home. I peeked into the living room. Alice was lying beside Jasper on a couch, both of them looked like they were asleep. I motioned for Jacob to be quiet and silently ran to the stair case.

I swear Jacob was a ghost.

He made no sound whatsoever.

Once we securely upstairs I went towards my parent's bedroom. Jacob was rather large and I was sure that I didn't own any clothes close to his size. My father on the hand had every type of clothes known to man. My mother had tried to convince him to get rid of it, but he was too much a pack-rat.

I opened the door and disappeared inside, Jacob following silently following like my shadow. I headed for the large closet that held all my parents clothes, at least most of them. It was strange being here. It held my father's scent, a scent that would stay with me forever. It smelt of hospitals and soap; _yeah, I know._

Eventually I found a pair of large sweats and a large hoodie. They both gladly showed what year they were from.

"Forks Highschool. 1983," I read as I handed them to Jacob.

"And your dad still kept these?" he asked, mortified.

I nodded my head. "Dad doesn't know how to let anything go. But hey, if he didn't have these someone would be shipping you off to a nudist beach."

He chuckled. "Yeah. Ancient clothes are better then naked old people I guess."

He put on the clothes while I looked around the bedroom. I was oddly surprised to find boxes everywhere, most of them full of my father's stuff and the rest empty. I figured that my mother wouldn't have the strength to touch my father's things, but I guess not.

If it wasn't for Jacob these boxes wouldn't even be here.

"I hate you. Do you know that?" I asked him.

He sighed. "Of course I know that. Everyone hates me. Join the club."

I turned and looked at him, my arms crossed as he unconsciously sat on my parents bed. He blinked his eyes and for a moment it looked like they weren't going to open back up.

"How do you live with yourself?" I questioned.

He looked up at me then, his eyes dark and piercing. "How do I live with myself? Half the time I'm a fucking monster and the other half I'm trying to get my life back together. Look, Cullen. I _do not_ need you to tell me how much of piece of shit I am!"

I recoiled. "Someone has to do it!"

He clucked his tongue. "Yeah, well good luck getting me to listen."

I shook my head and slowly and made my way beside him, sitting a few inches away.

"What are you going to do Jacob? Go around killing people? Shouldn't you try to get some help or something? Change?"

"I've already tried. Trust me, whatever thought about me that you have or are having; I've already thought them. All I know is that I need to do something, I need to change something. I need to….get laid," he stated with a small smile.

I laughed a little bit. But then silence returned and I was left with guilt. I hated Jacob, it was a fact. But I never realized that he could have hated himself more. Sure he was a lean, mean, killing machine – but was that really his fault?

"Did you purposely kill all those people?" I asked him.

He turned to me and pursed his lips. "One," he said as held one finger up. "I'm not the only one killing. Two, no, I don't. I try to stop myself but when the beast takes over _it takes over_."

"So I shouldn't blame you for killing my dad and best friend?" I sighed.

"Probably, because in truth the only thing I remember killing is a spider a few days ago," he replied.

_Well this sucks_, I thought to myself. _Here I wanted someone to blame (him) and I couldn't even do that._

"There's a girl crying somewhere in this house," he said to me. I felt my eyebrows raise in question. Then I remembered he was some bizarre mythical creature. And then it hit me like a semi truck.

_Rosalie._

Her life was already a living hell and with the fact that Emmett was gone, that must have made it worse. I ran out of the bedroom and didn't stop until I was in my room. Sure enough there she was lying in my bed, her back to me as sobs escaped from her.

Rosalie rarely liked to show her emotions. Even as a little girl when she got upset she'd go somewhere private and isolated. But I knew that sometimes she liked to be found, that sometimes she liked the attention. But today, she could care less about who found her. But with her in my bed I figured it was a comfort zone for her, a place where she knew she'd be safe.

_She was so broken._

I kicked off my shoes and pulled back the covers. She didn't even react to it. I laid down in the bed, placing my hands around her stomach. She looked back at me then, her eyes red and puffy. Her tears came out harder then as she turned around and placed her head in the space between my head and chest.

"You know, Rose. Things will get better," I said to her.

She laughed without humor. "Sure they will, Edward. And tomorrow when I wake up, this will all be a dream right?"

I ignored her. There wasn't anything I could say to Rosalie that would make her happy. I just held her in my arms, letting her know that I was here for her. I always had been - I always would be.

"Why does life suck so much ass?" she asked me.

I shook my head. "I have no clue."

"God hates us," she said in a quiet tone.

It was my turn to laugh. "What God?"

She didn't speak after that, neither did I. The only thing we did was hold each other. Every now and again Rosalie would let out a single sob and I would squeeze her gently, letting her know that I was here. It would always calm for her a moment or two, but then she'd do it again.

"You know," she began, a smile cry escaping her lips at the same. She took a deep breath. "You know sometimes I can't help but to feel that this was my entire fault."

I sighed. "It's not. I mean, who knew Emmett would react that way to the news of you being pregnant. Emmett liked kids; at least, I'm sure he did. We rarely talked about it."

Another sob came from her, but this time it was muffled, like she was trying to keep it from me. I looked down at her, my eyes narrowing as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"What?" I asked, sitting up and making her move with me.

She sat beside me, wiping at her tears and taking deep breaths.

"I lied," she stated quickly.

"What?" I asked.

She looked at me, her blue eyes full of self hatred. "Emmett didn't freak out about me telling him that I was pregnant. He was thrilled about the news."

"Then…what?" I was confused, unsure about why Emmett would get upset about anything.

"I," Rose began but stopped herself. She looked down at her hands then up, defeated. "I told him that I was in love with you."

I felt myself gasp. "Wh-why would you do something like that?" I asked loudly. "You know how much he loves you! You know how much he thought you loved him! Why couldn't you just keep your mouth shut!?"

I felt bad for yelling at her, but sometimes you just need to yell.

She sobbed. "I don't know! I was stupid and I just couldn't keep pretending with him!"

"And so you had to tell him the truth didn't you?"

She stared at me for a moment then burst out in laughs. I sat there glaring at her. Why was she laughing? There was nothing funny about this.

"What?" I growled.

She took a deep breath and calmed her giggles. "Jeez, Ed. Let's see. Uhm, what if we were in a relationship but you were in love with Bella. What if you didn't love me and wanted to be with her? Would you tell me or would you continue our faux relationship?"

I felt my mouth form an 'o'. "You're right," I stated.

She nodded her head. "No, shit. Now, if you don't mind I'd like to sleep. May I use your bed for that?" Rosalie was angry, but she had a right to be.

"You know I don't care," I replied as I got up. She sighed and sunk back into the warm, comfy bed; disappearing underneath the sheets. I turned off the lamp on the night stand and left the bedroom, closing the door behind me.

I then remembered that I had left Jacob in my parent's room. _I wonder if he stole anything_, that's really all I could care about.

I made my way down the hall and into the bedroom, only to find it empty. My eyebrows delved in the middle and I went on a quest – a quest to find the werewolf in my house. I checked thoroughly upstairs, finding nothing. I then made my way downstairs, only to spot Jasper fully awake and watching TV.

"You didn't happen to see a tall kid around here?" I asked.

Jasper stared at me, his blue eyes glazed over and his one eyebrow raised above his right eye. He shook his head at me and then turned his attention back to the TV, running a hand through Alice's messy hair as she slept soundly on his lap.

"Was he wearing some old gym clothes and smelt like death?" Jasper asked back.

I didn't remembering smelling him, but that would fit his description. "Si, senor," I said in a Spanish accent.

"Then yep. He left with your mom," he replied.

"My mom!?" I asked in almost hysterics.

"Yeah. She came home, looked at me, went upstairs for like ten minutes then came back down here with him. They left."

I scratched my head. "What the hell is going on?" It was a question for myself, but Jasper overheard it.

"You can say that again. I feel like I'm in a dream or some shit like that. I just want to go slam my head against the wall and pass out for forever."

"I'd love to join you," I breathed as I sat on one of the couches.

Jasper turned and looked at me again, his expression sad. "I called Emmett's parents."

There was no need to ask for more detail. There was nothing that needed to be said. I just nodded my head and closed my eyes. I was tired. It had been one hell of a day for me.

All I wanted was sleep, food, and to make sure Bella was alright.

And my mom.

What the hell was she doing with Jacob Black?

My only solution was to wait, and wait I would.

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**A/N:** Hmm. A filler chapter mostly. What we have left is two. One is that Jacob outtake chapter I promised, but I made blackandivorykeys write it :D And the one after that is the epilogue. It's time to end this biotch. But according to the poll there was 13 yes's for a sequel and 2 no's. Sorry no-folks but a sequel will be made.

More detail on that later!

Review?


	18. Where The Memories Rejoice

**Where The Memories Rejoice**

**by blackandivorykeys**

My heart thumped wildly. _Whoa boy, calm down there._

"Bella!" I called. Did I sound too desperate? Too wanting? Did she hear me? Discretion had never come easily to me, though lying would soon. If only I could keep things away from _her_. She caught my beating heart with her delicate, soft hands and her rosy blush done me away.

She had so much power over me. Whipped was an understatement.

I looked at her retreating figure, as she disappeared farther and farther. She didn't hear me. I groaned. I'd have to shout louder for her to hear me. _Desperate?_

"Bella!" I called again, controlling my volume so she would hear. She turned, a smile playing onto her face. Her lips were pulled up slightly into a cheeky grin.

_She's so adorable._

"Jake," her voice chimed, ringing towards my ears despite the soft tone. Her shyness was endearing. She started heading over, and I met her halfway. _Who are you kidding? You just want to be closer to her._ My mind had no desires to stop messing around with my conscious.

"Hey," I mumbled lamely, breaths breathless.

"Hey you," she mocked.

Scuffing my old sneakers, worn from years of wear, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my worn out jeans. Same old Jake, she would say.

"Up for the movies or something?" I kicked at the dirt. Suddenly, the flat brown of the cold soil was more comforting than the intense chocolate orbs. She paused. Looking up, I saw her white teeth bite hard onto those lips of hers. As her best friend, she was hesitant. _Best friend—right Jacob. _"If you have something to do, don't worry about me," I continued, hating to break her plans. I could find something to do. _I think._

"No, I've just been caught up thinking, I guess." She tried to smile my smile, the one she flashed that was slightly arrogant, yet beautiful.

I mumbled a 'mhmm',doubtful in my head. I kept quiet though.

"So, are you up for it?" I persisted. Way to go, Mr. Pathetic.

"Yeah, why not," she laughed. "Wanna go for a walk on first beach?"

The way she said it made me think of her in different ways. She could've been asking me out, for all I knew. Didn't couples take walks on the beach? I guess we'd always been different—good or bad. By the way I wanted her to be mine, the obsession that would not reside, I would say bad. Oh, how I loved my life.

"We could do something else if you wanted?" I asked. In other words—if she didn't want to see my face—she could just stop hanging around with me. I knew the pity party rules of acting nice to those who were pathetic.

She gave a small smile, and shook her head slightly. "I should be asking you that."

In harmony, two different laughs rang out against the whipping wind, as we smiled at each other. I stared into those chocolate eyes. I hoped to lose all thought. It was a numbing pleasure.

"I'd love to. Let's go," I laughed, before running away from her, keeping a jogging pace so she wouldn't trip over her feet.

"Jacob Black!" she screamed playfully.

"Yes, Isabella?" I taunted. I turned my head back more times than I should have, watching her laugh. The ringing sound filled my ears happily.

"You ass," she laughed, as we continued the same old routine. Nothing had changed between us. Good or bad.

The path home was much longer than I remembered, though I managed to cover it much quicker. My legs had been extended and pulled like that of a voodoo doll lately, with every aspect of me larger. I knew I was running a fever, the clammy feeling spreading and scorching throughout my body, putting out the cold peace.

I growled and sighed into the once-dark air. It was so cold, yet I burned.

Warm.

Warm.

_Warm._

My body burned, but it didn't ache in the way that a fever would. It was perpetually heated, and it blazed through the air. A match, a flame, struck the damp weather.

I felt the senses, though I was slowly losing grasp on what was happening. The world seemed to spin, everything around turning into a massive fog, all becoming a blur. The blur engulfed everything in the path. The burning scorched all and then continued its rampaging path, never dulling.

Burning. Hot.

And inside, I was left so cold I was freezing and so confused my mind reeled and everything, _everything_, had no voracity or verisimilitude. Everything was unknown, nothing certain, and life was hanging on a thread that was unbreakable. Life had left me.

Then suddenly it changed.

So. _Cold._

The scorching skin, now of my own, burned wildly as though a fever refused to dim. I listened and I heard. I heard too much—the ringing in my ears from the whispers right outside in front of my house.

_How long had it been?_ I constantly reminded myself.

After being the gentleman I was, blowing off Bella and then breaking up with her, I had ignored her for weeks. It was as though the divorce papers had been signed and after they had been validated, burned.

However, didn't it take two to tango? It did, I told myself. So there was no way that I had 'divorced' Bella, since our feelings were too mangled to be accredited.

Feelings so mangled… so delicately harbored… and so easily destroyed.

We would have gone crashing down regardless of what changed. That's how I looked at it. Perhaps we would have worked any other time, if we were any other people, and if life always worked out with the happy ending and the rolling credits with happy-go-lucky music.

But reality had its own plans, and for us, we weren't going to see each other. I'd be lucky to get one glimpse of her before leaving. I planned to always move. Always stay dynamic, never static.

The bed creaked and groaned as I lay down, tossing and turning. I could never feel myself grow content—it irked me.

_Gah._ It had been the longest time since peace had arrived. Did melancholy do the same? Perhaps so… it seemed to brace me better than happiness.

Billy was far from helpful. Weren't dads supposed to be helpful in your greatest time of need? Well—if they were—he was the farthest thing from that. He encouraged me to get my butt out of this bed, get my mind out of this little hole, and start living. He encouraged me to make friends with the people I'd never known before.

Of course, I _had_ snapped at him the day after becoming… what I was. And with that rage brought bloodlust.

It took a lot more effort to get me off… it disgusted me…

Thinking about the past did me no good. Suddenly, a spell of nauseating memories flooded my over-abused mind, sending the wheels flying, connecting too many thoughts that did not wish to be connected to make sense—

_Knock. Knock._

I sighed, expecting the knocks before they came. My ears had already heard the whisper light footsteps, as they narrowed down the hall, and as they came towards a stop so close to the room. It was to be expected.

"Jake, it's me," dad called in his gruff voice. _Who else would it be? It wasn't as though I'd never heard your voice before dad. Just saying…_

"What is it Dad?" My voice even sounded different. Different, different, _different_. Why was everything different? Why couldn't things be happy the way they were before, with me having the time of my content freaking life, and why couldn't things just stay the way they were?

"Bella's here…" he stated. My heart thumped quicker, though it weren't fast enough. I felt more heat burn through my already warm body.

"Are you kidding me? I told her to," I edited in my head, "leave me alone."

"She's here, and I doubt she's leaving. She's been waiting," Billy urged. _What are you doing dad? It wouldn't be safe._ I sent him telepathic distress signals—though I had no idea why I had not simply used my voice. It wasn't as though I had no voice. It would've made things easier…

But I couldn't speak the words aloud since that would prove them true and what good would that do.

"Jake, it's your choice," he spoke softly, as though he knew me. But he did—dads, all family, did know what went through my mind at all times. They always knew what happened to your inner being.

And now, that very opportunity was present, and how I would've loved to see her beautiful face…

I missed it _so much_.

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled before dragging my lazy ass out of bed.

_All for Bella._

"Bella," I started, shocked. I was having one of those out-of-body experiences that rarely happened, yet nonetheless, was happening as the moment passed by. Was I stuck in this experience? It didn't seem to dull. I could think thoughts. Were they my thoughts or the thoughts of a stranger?

"Jacob," she replied. Her smile was dull. What happened to the same vibrant smile she always flashed?

"Couldn't stay away from my sexy abs, could you?" I teased, hoping to lift a smile. My face flashed a quick grin as a small snort escaped her. I smiled, genuine. _That's my girl._

"Why, who could resist the power of Jacob Black?"

I chuckled at her silliness—the thought that anyone would be able to resist the power of me quite easily plausible in my head. I felt the transition of time as we traveled into a past that took place in the future.

"Just like old times, Bells," I chuckled.

"Exactly like old times," she smiled. Her pomegranate lips pulled into her delicate smile, her arms crossed on top of each other, wrapped around her waist, and her twinkling brown eyes that had always been there.

_Just like old times._

"Jacob, what are you doing?" I heard her ask. Quietly, I heard her footsteps halt. _She thought I couldn't hear her… silly._

The night air was quiet inside the forest. I gave a quick thank to the forest's cover, the weakness that she has.

"Absolutely nothing," I muttered. My escape had been blocked.

But I had to thank her.

I doubted I could actually leave… but I would've.

The past few weeks had resorted into falling back into a new equilibrium, much like the ones I had learned so much about despite falling asleep. The new balance had been set—the new dynamics of our old relationship reestablished.

"Because that sounds like nothing, right," she snickered. I had to laugh, she had me there. She always had me everywhere it seemed.

"It really is nothing. Maybe you should get your hearing checked," I chuckled, the palm of my hand ruffling the top of her head. She felt so cold now… despite the fact I burned, she grew colder. Even our body temperature had begun to separate.

The insecurities that hounded at my mind though, they were nothing but that: insecurities.

We were flirting again. That was a definitive. There hadn't been a time where our relationship hadn't been blurred with other possibilities… possibilities so real that they were almost too real to be true. They were too delicate to be touched upon.

"My hearing is fine, thank you very much." She smirked. "I was out late one night. I heard you moaning my name through the walls."

My face flushed red, though I hoped darkness would be my cover. Denial seemed the best way to play. If not, then changing the topic as quickly as time allotted.

"What were you doing out late?" I challenged. "Hmm? _Hmm?_" I continued, mature as ever. I lifted my right eyebrow despite the fact she wouldn't be able to notice. Her low chuckle rang once into the night.

"Jacob Black, are you avoiding the subject?"

"Are you?"

Without the slightest hesitation, unlike what I had shown, she shook her head. "I was out for a walk. I couldn't sleep." She clucked her tongue once, and shook her head again. I wondered to myself, _had I done something wrong?_

"Possibly," I smiled, feeling the five year old in me emerge once more. That would make Bella my babysitter… already her years were longer than mine. The stretch only continued to get ridiculously large.

"Jake, what the hell am I going to do with you?" She laughed, and patted my back.

We then walked in harmony without even words telling us where to go—as we always did. As friends. As lovers.

It didn't matter though… together.

The full moon above was slowly escaping from its sheltered clouds as we continued our argument.  
"Bella, _get away_," I started else could I infuse into my voice to get her away from me?

I was dangerous. Slowly slipping. Falling into a place that no one could save anybody from. I felt the animal in me rise, the bloodlust starting to build. Every moment lead her closer to her end. _Get away._

"Bella, get the _fuck_ away from me," I growled, barely hearing her small response of 'why'. I was going to break, burst, and start exploding. I was so close to breaking. My breaking point was near, the hunger growing…

I turned. Had she walked any faster, she would've been hot on my heels. I walked away, quickly, wondering what route to take me closest to a place to feed. _Where was Sam?_

Taking a quick moment of respite, I heard the ominous crunching of leaves, as she fell. _Oof,_ I heard. Quickly, as though instinct brought me, I walked back, still fuming for the apparent reason that escaped my mind. I always had to pick her up. I always did, didn't I?

And then I smelled the blood, luscious, and knew instantly it was dripping.

My footsteps traveled faster and faster until they found the girl, bleeding. I took in a deep breath—an exasperated sigh.

_Bella._

And suddenly everything exploded as I changed, lunged, my teeth sinking deep into her soft, creamy, skin, biting easily, the taste of sweet blood filling my mouth…

That was the beginning of the ending of both of us.

**

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A/N -

Big, huge thanks to blackandivorykeys for writing this. I was too lazy. This is a very important thing for this story and the sequel. I know some of you aren't understanding to the things that happen in this story, and I need you to understand Jacob a bit more.

Why? Well, think. Or if you don't want to know, don't think.

Anyways, this was amazing yes?

Thank you so much Michelle. And everyone, next update = last chapter. If you have any questions ask them and I will answer them next time for all to see.


	19. Where The Endings Are Beginnings

**Where The Endings Are Beginnings**

**Epilogue **

Esme returned home the next morning.

I awoke from the couch, along with Jasper and Alice. The three of us went into the kitchen and made ourselves breakfast. I was surprised to see Rosalie joining us.

That's when we my mother arrived back to the house with a U-Haul, thousands of cardboard boxes, and Jacob Black.

We were moving.

Apparently Esme was sick of this house, of this town, and of the deaths that kept coming and coming.

"Edward, Alice, go to your rooms and start packing."

Alice and I immediately dropped our forks and spoons. We grabbed a handful of brown, flattened down boxes and disappeared upstairs. We didn't dare look at her.

The house was packed and in the U-Haul before twilight. Rosalie and Jasper helped, even though they shouldn't have.

It was painful to see Alice and Jasper together.

I was aware of their relationship and how it wasn't some teenage infatuation that was destined to fail. No, it was much more than that. They were in love – but love didn't even seem like the right word. They were soul mates, two people meant to be together.

And that was all ruined.

I wanted to blame Jacob, but in the end it was never his fault. It was his ancestor's fault, the person who made these awful creatures what they really were.

Esme was ready to leave; we couldn't even say a rightful goodbye. As soon as the last box was in the back of the large vehicle, she demanded that we get in. Alice gave Rosalie a hug before moving onto Jasper. They didn't hug. They didn't kiss or cry. They held each other's hands and just stared at each other. It was as if they were reading each other's minds.

I made my way to Rose, she smiled awkwardly at me.

"I'll miss you, Rose," I sighed.

"I'll miss you more," she replied, a larger yet sadder grin on her face.

I pulled her into my arms then, letting her warmth and love surround me. I would truly miss Rosalie. She had been my best friend for years and even though I could never feel the same way, I would always be there for her.

I let go of her and walked over to her brother.

In a way Jasper was also my brother. He had always been my everything. I could always talk to him; I could always count on him. Jasper was loyal. It was a shame that I was losing a wonderful friend.

"Take care of Alice," he said in a stern tone.

"She's my little sister," I declared in a harsh voice.

He smiled and nodded. "I know."

I couldn't help but to grin back. We hugged for a short moment before I went to my Volvo.

According to Esme, Jacob was coming with us.

"He's lost everyone. He has nowhere to go. I can't just let him live on the streets, I'm not that type of person."

When Esme found Jacob in her bedroom last night, she had asked him for a ride home. He agreed and on the drive, he somehow opened up about how he didn't have a home anymore. Esme was always a kind soul; she couldn't allow a boy to be on his own.

I didn't mind.

But I didn't like the fact that a werewolf was coming with us.

But there was this odd moment a few minutes before we went outside. Jacob stepped in front of me and said, "Nothing bad will ever happen to your family while I'm around."

He walked away then, so I couldn't even ask him what he was talking about. But I felt sudden relief that Jacob was coming with us. The darkness and anger that seemed to glow around him had faded. It was like he was a normal human again.

Alice and Esme rode in the U-Haul as I took my car and Jacob took my mother's. We followed each other in a perfect line that it was almost eerie. I was in the back. Driving at a snail's pace, I watched as Jasper and Rosalie became smaller and smaller.

I felt my eyes water as I realize that I was leaving my home, my friends, and my life.

Everything good in my life was gone.

And then a howl was heard – signaling the demons that would always be in my life, no matter where I ran.

I would never be safe.

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**A/N **– Kay, so I'm not good at endings. Sue me.

But like we all know, there will be a sequel. All be sure to let you all know when it's out (late February).

A big thanks to everyone who has supported this story. The reviewers, the readers, the lovers, the haters, the boobies. Just..thank you :)

I love you all.


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